Volcano Storm, Ranger Form
by tovictorsthespoils
Summary: Tori Hanson's cousin, Alexis ,comese to Blue Bay Harbor for a visit. But it seems ninja runs in the family. Alexis and her friend Danny are from the Volcano Academy, a school for fire ninjas. What'll happen, since the Volcano and Thunder Academies have always been enemies, and what about the past Alexis shares with Blake and Hunter. Hunter/OC, with Tori/Blake
1. Alexis

Volcano Storm, Ranger Form

Tori Hanson walked into Storm Chargers. "Hi guys." She said to her friends, Shane, Dustin, Blake and Hunter. "What's up?"

"We were just going to head up to the track, want to come?" Dustin replied. He was obviously talking about the dirt bike track.

"Sorry, can't. Alexis is coming up for a visit, and she'll be here soon."

"Hey, you mean Alexis from a couple of years back?" Shane asked.

"That's the girl." Tori replied.

"Can't wait to meet her." Blake said. Silently he added, _'She's gotta be better than the last Alexis I met.'_ A glance at his brother told him Hunter was thinking the same thing.

"Hey guys! Could you give me a hand back here?" Kelley called from the back room.

"Sure Kel, we'll be right there." Hunter called back. "Come on bro." He said to Blake. They both went into the back room.

"So what are you and Alexis planning? Shane asked.

"We're going to go to the mall, then hang out at the beach, and probably go see a movie." Tori replied.

"TORI!" A new voice cried. In front of the door was a girl about their age. She was tall with flaming red hair, suntanned skin, and shopping bags in her hand. She ran over and hugged Tori.

"Hey 'Lexis" Tori said, returning the hug. "You remember Shane and Dustin don't you?"

"Of course, how ya been guys?" She replied. She set down her bags and gave them each a high five.

"Oh fine." Dustin replied. "Wow you do a lot of shopping." He said motioning towards the bags.

"Oh these, just something's I picked up on the walk here from the beach. Alexis answered. "The rest are in my car."

"Speaking of your car, where is it?" Tori asked.

"Danny's bring it. He should be here right about…..now!" AS if on cue, a jeep pulled in, with a guy driving. The trunk was full of traveling bags.

"Danny's here?" Tori asked.

"Yep, and I happen to know," She said in a sing-song tone, "He still has a major crush on you." She smiled slyly in a, i-know-something you don't way. Danny walked into Storm Chargers, giving Tori a one armed hug.

"Hey Tori, how's it going?" He said.

"Fine." Tori replied.

"Well, we're going to go now." Alexis told Danny. Moving all her shopping bags to one hand, she grabbed Tori's wrist and dragged her to the door. When they got to the jeep, she dumped her bags in the back seat and hopped into the driver's seat. She looked at Tori in the passenger seat, and then sped away.

"So, is Alexis your sister?" Dustin asked Danny.

"Nah, just my friend. She's like my little sister though." Danny replied casually. "Cool store."

"Yeah, Kelley works really hard on it." Shane replied.

"Hey guys, we're back." Hunter called as he and Blake walked back into the store. They both stopped abruptly as they laid eyes on Danny.

"Danny." Blake said through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"Bradley and Bradley?" Danny said, shocked. Then his shock turned to anger, then worry. "Oh God, Alexis." And he streaked from the store.

**Authors note: Did you like it? Please read and review. Also note, when it said Danny streaked from the store, he did not ninja streak, he just ran really fast. So what will happen? What does Danny have against the Bradley Brothers? And what does Alexis need to hurry with? All revealed in the next chapter**

**A/N 2- If, your confused, I edited it, like I plan to do with all the chapters. Is the 2nd version better?**


	2. Volcano

Startled by Danny's sudden exit, Shane and Dustin turned to the brothers. 

"What just happened?" Dustin asked. 

"What was he doing here?" Hunter asked, ignoring Dustin's question. 

"He was just dropping of a friend." Shane answered. 

"Aw man, Alexis." Blake said to Hunter. 

"That was her." Shane said. 

"Did she go with Tori?" Hunter asked, but he already knew the answer. 

"Yeah a little while ago, do you guys think you could tell us what's going on." said Dustin. 

"Not here." Blake said." Come on." Hunter and Blake led them out of the store and soon they were entering the waterfall to Ninja Ops. 

"Guys, what are you doing here?" Cam asked when he saw the 4 boys enter. 

"Cam, where's you dad?" Hunter asked. 

"Right here Hunter." Sensei said as he flipped onto the table."What is the problem?" 

"Sensei, what do you know about the Volcano Ninja Academy?"  
Cam raised his eyebrows, Shane and Dustin continued looking confused. 

"Ah, the Volcano Ninja Academy. A ninja Academy who's main technique was fire.. Many strong ninja have been trained there. Unlike us, they are trained to attack instead of self-defense. Sensei Haruno led the school. He prided himself on the abilities of his students. And if I remember correctly, they had quite a rivalry with the Thunder Ninja Academy. Why do you ask?" Hunter and Blake shared another glance then turned back to Sensei. 

"Two volcano ninjas have come to Blue Bay Harbor." Blake said. 

"Whoa, wait, backup." Dustin said. He, Shane and Cam, through out this whole thing watched the brothers, confused at their behavior. "Your telling me, two more ninjas are here, and you two," he pointed at the brothers, " know them,and apparently don't like them." 

"You would be correct, Dustin." Sensei replied. "But even if they are here, I see little real reason to worry, unless they are working for Lothor." 

"I don't think they'd work for Lothor, Volcano Ninjas tend to take orders from two people, their sensei, and their selves. But Sensei, we know these ninjas, they only ever think of themselves, and would do anything to gain more power, even destroy other ninja." Hunter slammed his fist down onto the table as he spoke, anger filling his eyes.

Sensei took a deep breath. 

"I have never known Sensei Haruno very well, and the Thunder Academy has always known the Volcano Academy, so perhaps you are right. We should be careful of these ninjas until we know why they are here." Blake and Hunter nodded their agreement. 

"We should contact Tori, tell her what's going on, and that she needs to get away from Alexis." 

"I'll do it." Cam volunteered. He turned back to his computer."Tori, this is Cam." No reply. "Tori, come in." The line remained silent.

Blake and Hunter exchanged more worried looks. "I'll try to get a visual." Cam said. Within seconds, the blue ranger was on the screen, but instead of regular clothes, she was in ninja form, and she was fighting on the beach, with none other, than Alexis.

**A/N 2- DUH, DUH,DUH!**


	3. Alexis and Tori

**Authors note- thank you everyone who commented(btw, 2 people. Seriosly, comment! I don't mind critism if that's the reason you don't.) Anyway...****  
****JasonLeeScottFan- Once again, thank you for reviewing. For your first question, that is revealed now. As for your second, you'll have to wait and find out. And btw, what is BETA? I'd get it if I knew what it is. Hope I updated fast enough. Please enjoy.****  
****xxsakurarokzxx- thanks for reviewing! It means so much to know you like it. Hope you like the chapter.******

**And now, wonderful people who actually read my sorry excuse for a story, here, is chapter 3.**

Chapter 3  
Rewind- Back to Tori and Alexis after they left.

Alexis and Tori ran for Alexis's jeep. Well, more like Alexis ran and dragged Tori along. Alexis threw her bags in the back an hopped in the drivers seat. After she and Tori were safely strapped in she sped into the Blue Bay Harbor traffic 

"So, what's the plan?" Tori asked. 

"Well, I would like to go the mall, but I know you well enough to know that's not quite your social setting."

"Hey!"

"Not an insult."

"I'm not that bad." she defended herself.

"Oh, please." Alexis rolled my eyes.

"Oh, shut up" Tori retorted

"Lets just go to the beach. You can show me some of those awesome Blue Ranger moves." Alexis said with a smile.

Tori practically choked. Alexis pulled to the side of the rode to make sure she was ok. When she finally got her breath back, the color had left her face and she looked at her shocked. 

"How did you, why would you, what..."  
Alexis silenced her. You could see the confusion and shock on her face. 

"Tori, I'm your cousin. To me it was obvious. 1, you told me you went to the Wind Academy, it was captured yet your still here, and the remaining ninjas became the rangers. 2, your a water ninja, blue is a water ninja. And 3, we have spared against each other since we were, what, nine and actually learned how to fight, you really think I wouldn't recognize your fighting style?" 

Tori stared a second longer, then shook herself back to sense. 

"Wait a minute, figuring that out would take excellent observation skills, and a memory, neither of which you have." Tori said. She wasn't insulting , just stating the obvious. 

"1. I actually do have observation skills and a memory. But personally, I think if people knew that I could ace my classes when I just pass, they would expect me to perform to my full potential, which is boring and requires effort. Besides, i don't even know why I need to take regular courses, since I do amazing in all my ninja classes. Who needs English and math? You know very well, I care about shopping, family, the Volcano Academy and little else, now, can we change the subject."

Tori sighed, knowing she would get no more information. So she changed the subject. 

"The Volcano Academy, how..." 

Alexis felt a tear forming in her eye. She wiped it away. She waited a minute and concentrated on the road the, then took a deep breath before answering. 

"Well, you know that we were captured, all the ninja schools were and the Volcano Academy is no exception. Danny and I are the only ones left. We have are morphers still, but we can't activate them until we find a power strong enough to re-energize them. I'll tell you Tor, I don't think we'll ever find the Scroll of Power in the schools ruins." she sighed again.

Tori looked away from Alexis. She knew she shouldn't have brought the academy up. But she was curious. The shared a bond over the fact they were both ninjas, but the loss of the Volcano Academy was even harder on Alexis than the loss of the wind academy was on Tori. While Tori had only been at the school for a year. Alexis had lived their since she was a little girl with her brother Josh. Tori urged herself not to think about him. Lucky for her that's when they pulled into a parking space. They had reached the beach. They walked to the part that was normally deserted. 

"Ready?" Alexis asked. 

"Ready." Tori replied. In sync, they threw off their civilian clothes. In ninja form, they took fighting stance. Tori looked Alexis up and down. Her outfit, like Tori's had a skirt. It also consisted of the Volcano Academy's symbol, and the strip if color was there. Tori was slightly surprised at what color it was, but decided to ask later. They exchanged a quick nod, and began to spar. At first it was simple hand to hand combat. But soon Tori was calling upon her water powers and Alexis her powers of fire. 

_'How did I, a fire ninja manage to be cousins with a water ninja?'_ Alexis thought to herself. Tori was thinking similar things. But then, just as they were getting into it, a blast came from out of nowhere, hitting Alexis square on the leg, powerful enough to send her flying, up into the air, and straight into the water.

**Authors note- pleaz reveiw, and as I said last chapter, next chapter will b up when I get off my lazy but.****  
****Later,****  
****pinkchik08**

**A/N 2- while, I never noticed these were so short. Eh, what can you do about.**


	4. Volcano vs Thunder

Chapter 4

Tori screamed, Alexis cried out. Tori quickly used her water powers to have the water break her fall. Alexis still landed with an 'oof'. Both girls looked up at the cliff, and saw, to their disbelief, that on their way down, fully morphed, were the power rangers( minus Tori). And the navy rangers blaster was pointed straight at Alexis. 

"Blake?" Tori said. 

"WHAT!" Alexis screamed from behind. Tori turned to look, put Alexis had already streaked out of the water and was standing far from Tori, too far. Far enough that Alexis could whip out a blaster and shoot without time for a defense. " You. Know. THUNDER NINJAS!." Fury burned in Alexis eyes. 

Before Tori could answer she was surrounded by the guys. 

"Tori, you alright?" Dustin asked. 

"I'm fine, what are you guys doing here?" Tori replied. 

"We came to help you." Blake replied. 

"Well that's a shame because it seems you are the ones in trouble, Bradley." Alexis spat when she said Bradley, like the word was unworthy to be said by her tongue. Her gaze was focused on the brothers, filled with anger, tainted with hate. And something else, something that couldn't be placed/ 

"Really?" Hunter said. "Because the way I see it. It's two against one, making us have the advantage." 

"Hold on, two? What about us?" Shane asked. 

"This is our fight. We have a bit of a score to settle." Hunter said determinedly. 

"Wait, you can't!" Tori protested. 

"Tori, Alexis isn't your friend, no matter what you think. She is a Volcano Ninja. Sooner or later, she'll betray you." 

"Well, as entertaining it is to watch you debate over how evil I am, we Volcano Ninjas have important things to do, so if we could move this along." Alexis said impatiently, rolloing her hands for effect. 

Tori was surprise at her cousin. Sure, Alexis always had an attitude, but now she was just being... Tori didn't know how to describe. She had asked Alexis about the rumors that Volcano academy students were evil, but her cousin had just laughed and claimed it was out of jealousy. Evil was exactly the air 'Lexis had right now. 

"Fine than, let's do this." Hunter and Blake stepped forward. "Might as well give up, you'll never win against both of us ." 

"Well than, we should even up the score." A new voice called. All heads snapped in it's direction. 

"Danny!",called the Thunder Rangers, in anger and Alexis, with a smile. 

"Alexis." Danny streaked down to her. "You okay?" 

"Fine, what happened to you, you look like you just trekked through a jungle." Danny was indeed covered with scratches and sweat. 

"Does this answer you question?" and he held something out to Alexis. 

"Two of you or not, were still more powerful." Blake interrupted. 

Alexis turned, a sly smile creeping across her face."I wouldn't be so sure. Ready?" 

"Ready!" Danny said. Both of them stuck two right fingers across their chests to there hearts, than presses a button on the new morphers on their wrist. There left fist, which was pointed towards the ground, came up and crossed their chest. At the same time, they shouted, "Volcano Storm, Ranger Form, HA.

Tori stood shocked. 

Dustin was confused, as was Shane.

Cam was amazed

Hunter and Blake were not. 

-Morphing sequence-(A/N- thought Id add this, feel free to skip.)  
Fire comes up around person, when it goes down they're in ranger form, minus helmet. Close up on head, helmet comes into place. Takes a stance, Danny-with one hand on the ground, the other in a fist, Alexis- hands on her hips, fire comes up in two pillars and both shout "Power of Fire!"

The wind and thunder rangers looked at the two new rangers. 

"Scarlet Ranger!" Alexis called. 

"Amber Ranger!" Danny yelled. 

"How in the world?" Cam asked. 

" Aw, come on." Dustin said, stamping his foot. "More evil rangers." 

"A girl is their red? Their leader is a girl?" Hunter stated. 

"You got a problem with that?" Alexis asked. She whipped out a wicked looking blaster and opened fire on the brothers. But she was careful, to fire at the brothers and the brothers only. The thunder ninjas soon closed the gap between themselves and the volcano ninjas. 

"Thunder Staffs!" Hunter and Blake said as they took their weapons. 

"Lava Swords." Danny and Alexis called, and each held up a sword, one burning red, the other yellow. They continued fighting.

Tori watched, horror stricken at the thought of her friends fighting. Weapons clashed, punches were dealt, insults were traded.

At one point, Blake jabbed Alexis in the stomach, and she went flying. She hit the ground and didn't move. Tori gasped. Blake went to the scarlet ranger's unmoving form. He leaned over her, but than her eyes snapped open. 

"Kidding." she said , flipped back up and dealt another blow to the Navy ranger. But he soon regained his footing an the fighting continued. 

_'This as all my fault.'_ Tori thought. _'I should of told them, this wouldn't of happened. Why didn't I warn Alexis.'_

But Tori was brought back to the fight when she heard a pained cry. "Alexis!"  
Tori screamed. 

Alexis had taken a hard hit in the side. She was on the ground, her hand clutching the wound. 

"Of course." Tori said. Shane, Cam and Dustin looked at her. She continued to no one in particular. " The Volcano Rangers have limited power, they need to divide it evenly. It's just like Alexis to divert to much to attacks and not have enough to keep up a good defense."

But then she saw something that scared her. Alexis wasn't getting up like last time. She had fallen unconscious. 

"'Lexis!" Danny yelled. In a second he was by her side, and picked her up. Her head rolled against his shoulder and one arm hanged limply to the ground. Danny was furious. "You'll pay for this, Thunder Ninjas!" he shouted at Hunter and Blake. He turned to Tori. "And you, don't think you'll be off the hook anytime soon." And with that, he ninja streaked off away.  
Blake and Hunter turned back to their friends. "Power Down." they de-morphed. 

"Tori..." Blake started, but trailed off when he saw her face. 

Tori was staring after Danny, her face a mixture of shock, scared, horrified and worry. Slowly, her eyes made their way back to the brothers. "What have you done ?"

**A/N- Duh, Duh, DUHH. Will Alexis live? What did Tori do wrong? What will happen when Lothor finds the Volcano Ninjas? Will anyone ever review on this story again? Find out, in chapter 5. BTW, I know I suck at fight scenes.**

**A/N-2- Not much different**


	5. History repeats

Authors note: Thank you everybody who reviewed. Looks like that really worked. I got way more than expected.

**Taeniaea- I agree, poor Alexis.**

**JasonLeeScottFan- Oh, that's a beta reader. Well, if you want to apply for the position it's yours. And I have read some of your stories, there very good. I hope this is longer, but I don't know**

**Sonny01,damonXelenaXforever,-thank you for the nice reviews**

Volcano Storm ch 5

When Alexis woke up, she noticed two things immediately. One, it was warm. Two, it was dark. She turned her head and saw a very small fire a few feet away. She smiled. "Danny." she murmeerd. Lifting her hand up a bit, a large blaze lifted from the small flame.. Light immediately filled the small room. She discovered Danny sitting a few yards to her right. He looked up at her. 

"So you finally woke up, huh Scarlet." He said as he gave her a smile. Alexis rolled her eyes at her friends restart of calling her by her ranger color. But then Danny turned serious. "Hey, you alright?"

Alexis was about to answer that she was fine, but then she noticed something. Her hand gently touched her right lower side, and a new wave of pain shot through her. She turned to Danny. 

"I'll live, but my side hurts like hell. Guess you were right, I should devote more energy to defense."

Danny gave a slight smile at Alexis's attempt to make light of the situation.  
"The Navy Ranger hit you pretty hard. Look, 'Lexis did you,.."

"I know what your thinking," Alexis said, "and know, I didn't know that the Thunder Ninjas were going to be here. Tori kept me in the dark as much as you."

Danny let out a sigh. " I can't believe Tori would trick us like that, bringing us to Thunder Ninjas."

"I don't know, Danny." Alexis said thoughtfully. " If Tori planned to attack us, she would try and bring us somewhere specific. I was the one who decided on the beach.

Danny went over all the information is his head. "Wait a minute, you think,"

"Maybe. Tori could of tried to keep us away from the Thunder Ninjas but somehow, they found out, and since they think were psycho, killer evil ninjas, they came to 'save' Tori." Alexis finished. She began to chew on the side of her mouth. The Thunder Ninjas had always made her nervous, and the thought of being anywhere near them for something other than a tournament flat out scared her. 

"Danny?", she asked, " Why do you think we didn't know about the Thunder rangers? We heard about the Wind Rangers."

"Because Alexis", Danny answered. "The Volcano Academy is all the way in Hawaii. Sensei Haruno heard about the fall of the Wind Academy, the rise of the Power Rangers, but then we were attacked. With Sensei gone, and neither of us keeping up with the news, we just didn't know." He sighed as he finished. He hated not being informed. Alexis turned back to the fire. For a while, it was silent

"Uncle!" Two female voices pierced the air. Lothor groaned.  
"I was just starting to enjoy the piece and quiet." He grumbled. "What do you want?" He demanded to his nieces. 

Marah and Kapri looked at each other nervously before continuing.

"Alright Uncle, you know how we defeated a ninja academy called the Volcano Academy?" Marah asked.

"How could I forgot, the little brats were more trouble then they were worth. Though I must say, the end result was quite rewarding?"

Marah and Kapri shared another nervous look before Kapri answered. "Well, we discovered, the two ninjas that actually survived our attack have their morphers back."

"What!" Lothor yelled. "We destroyed that power, they should be useless."

Marah and Kapri reeled back at their uncle's anger. 

"You see, apparently the Amber one found a power strong enough to re-energize them." Kapri said. Lothor started to calm down. Then he started to think and soon a perfectly evil plan had formed. 

"We could use this to our advantage." he stated. 

"Huh?" Marah and Kapri asked confusedly. 

"Think you pea-brains. We can make them go through the same thing that happened last time. We can even get the power rangers involved. It's perfect. Zurgane! He commanded his general. "Take an alien and go down to capture those ninjas. 

"As you wish sir." the alien obeyed. He transported down to earth. 

"This will be a most interesting ninja battle." Lothor said.

"Hey Danny, I have a question." Alexis said. Her wound didn't hurt as much, she had regained her strength and her energy had returned. "How did you get our powers back?"

"Oh", Danny replied."Well we couldn't find the scroll of power in the schools ruins, and since we had searched basically everywhere, I guessed that maybe it wasn't there. Since two core Ninja academies are here, I searched for a place where large energies were. I found a place called the Cavern of Lost Souls, streaked there, and boom, there it was. To think, we've been searching in the wrong place all along. That's what you call ironic." He laughed.

Alexis laughed with him. For the first time in a long time, she was completely relaxed. That didn't last long though. Two monsters and a group of kelzacks teleported down, and stood in front of the Volcano Ninjas.

"Who in the world are you?" Alexis got up demanded.

"My name is General Zurgane, and this is Ash-a-Trops." The black monster said. Next to him, a red monster with flames and a stream of lava flowing down his body stood. 

"What do you want with us?" Danny asked. 

"My master wants your power. You might remember him. His name is Lothor." 

Alexis gasped. Danny could only blink in shock. When he turned to Alexis, he saw the girl who had always been so strong, go weak. Her hand covered her mouth, her knees wobbled, and tears had begun to form. No doubt she was remembering the man who practically ruined her life. 

"Attack!" Zurgane commanded. The kelzaks leaped into action. Luckily, Alexis regained her senses just in time to stop there attack. She went onto the offense and charged Ash-a-Trops. He met her attack with equal fury, which is saying a lot. Danny on the other hand, stood and let the kelzaks come to him, deflecting there attacks with ease. He didn't notice Zurgane come up behind him. He didn't notice him preparing to strike. But before he knew it, he was flat on the ground and the kelzaks had him firm in their grasp. 

"Danny!" Alexis screamed. She tried to push past Ash-a-Trops, but he grabbed her too. Before he could move though, Alexis had called upon her Lave Sword and jabbed it into the monsters arm. He let out and agonized wail. He was obviously incapable of speech. He let go of Alexis, who stumbled to the ground. She got up and started running towards Danny. 

"One will have to do." Zurgane said. He teleported away. Ash-a-Trops, and the kelzaks with Danny quickly followed suit. Alexis was left alone in an empty cave. 

"Danny!" she screamed again. She let the tears that had gathered fall down her face. Images, memories of the first battle, the first time Danny had been taken by Lothor flashed to the front of her mind. She felt alone. So she did the only thing she could think of. She headed towards Tori.

"What were you thinking out there?" Tori questioned as soon as they had returned to Ninja Ops. Her voice sounded questioning, but if you were paying attention, you could hear the slight bit of accusation in her voice. Hunter didn't seem fazed though. 

"We were saving you." Hunter said. "Alexis isn't someone you want to fight, she's really powerful."

"You think I don't know that?" Tori said. This caught all the boys by surprise. "Alexis is my cousin, I know she's a fire ninja. I also know she would never hurt me."

"Wait, your cousin?" Blake asked.

"You know she's a ninja?" Shane asked. 

"And you didn't tell us?" Hunter asked.

Tori answered " Yes she's my cousin, of course I knew she's a ninja, and she knows I'm one too, FYI. and I was gonna tell you, but you came and attacked Alexis before I got the chance.

"Wait, wait." Dustin said. "If she would never hurt you, why were you fighting?"

"We weren't fighting, just sparing." Tori said. "And now she's probably never going to be allowed to talk to me again. Danny thinks I betrayed them."

"Danny would of betrayed you!" Hunter cried. He knew the Volcano Ninja's for so long, he wasn't going to accept they wouldn't hurt someone.

Tori just shook her head. "Danny cares about me. A lot. He wouldn't hurt me." Her words were sincere. 

She didn't notice that Blake had cast his eyes down. 

'_ She sounded so sure, like even the spell Hunter and I were under wouldn't make him hurt her.'_ Blake thought to himself. _'But I did hurt her. A Volcano Ninja can't care about her like I do, it's not possible. Is it?'_ But he came back to reality when he heard someone come down into Ninja Ops. All heads turned to the new comer. 

"No way." Dustin said. 

"Tori." The new comer said. 

"Alexis." Tori asked. 

"Dude," Shane said as he turned to Dustin. "Way." 

**A/N 2- So slightly different, now the question is, what's going to happen with Danny.**


	6. Request for Help

_Volcano Storm chapter 6_

Tori rushed to her cousin. Alexis embraced her, partly because she was happy to see her, and partly because she doubted she could stand much longer. The guys stood shocked at Alexis's sudden arrival. When Tori pulled back, she saw Alexis's wound. Slowly, she moved her hand towards it, but Alexis caught it.

"Sorry Tor, but that's probably not the best idea." Tori nodded. 

Cam walked to Alexis. "How did you get in here?" He asked.

"Hello, ninja." Alexis said as she pointed to herself. "Kind of easy."

"But the Thunder Ninjas couldn't find it on their own." Dustin said. Blake and Hunter tried to silence him but it was too late. Alexis smiled smugly.

"Oh really, is that so Bradley's? Well I do believe that brings our total score to what, Thunder Academy: 528, Volcano Academy: 531. Still in the lead."

"Okay, can I ask a question?"Shane butted in." What is with the whole Volcano vs. Thunder thing anyway?"

Hunter, Blake and Alexis all looked down at the floor or began with "Uhh..."

Tori looked from her cousin, to her friends and back. 

"Wait a second; don't tell me YOU started this whole thing."

"Nooooooooo," Alexis said, holding the no. "More like, replenished it." 

"The feud actually began a couple hundred years ago." Blake said. 

"Uh-huh." Tori said, clearly still confused.

"But that's not important right now." Alexis said, turning deathly serious. "Danny. Lothor took Danny. I need to get him back."

"And you expect us to help you?" Hunter asked.

Alexis pressed her lips tightly and looked towards Hunter. "I was asking the Wind Rangers. Not you."

"If you wish to rescue your friend, you must learn to work together." Sensai said. It was the first time he had spoken, and Alexis got her first sight of the guinea pig. She turned to the Wind Rangers.

"Uh, did that guinea pig just talk?"

"Oh, yeah, you get kind of used to it." Dustin said." He's our Sensei."

"Ahh." Alexis confusedly replied; she turned and bowed to Sensei.

"Alexis, you need more help than Shane, Tori, and Dustin to help you find your friend. It will take all of you to achieve this." Sensei said.

"A volcano ninja asking thunder ninjas for help. You realize your dishonoring your school." Hunter said.

Alexis turned in her heal and spun around to face him again, getting so close there foreheads touched, and Hunter could clearly see the anger in her eyes. "Look, Bradley, if it was me, I would die before I asked you. But this is Danny, and I can't lose him. So," she paused for only a second. "will, you help me? I promise I won't pull anything." 

Hunter stepped back from the raging girl. Tori went up and put her hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"I trust you." She said. Shane and Dustin looked at each other.

"Look if Tori trusts you, you're probably okay. We'll help." He put his hand out, and Alexis high-fived it gratefully. Cam was next. 

"Anyone who can get past our intruder detection is obviously skilled. But, my dad seems to have faith in you, so I guess I'm in."

Everyone turned to Blake and Hunter. Tori spoke first. 

"So, are you guys in?"

Blake and Hunter shared a look.  
"I don't know Tor." Blake said.

"What do you mean you don't know," Hunter said as he turned to his brother. "We know perfectly well the answer is no, are you forgetting that these are the ninjas who," Alexis cut him off.

"What's the matter Hunter?" She said as a smug smile spread over her face and she folded her arms. "Can't work with you ex-girlfriend?"

Cam, Tori, Dustin, Shane and even Sensei's jaw dropped.

_'What the heck?'_ Shane thought. Just when he had gathered Volcano Ninjas and Thunder Ninjas hated each other, and thought he understood, they scramble everything again. Shane watched as Hunter locked eyes with Alexis, and they exchanged glares.

_'How could two people who hate each other so much, once of dated?'_ Cam thought. _'Must have been some breakup.'_ He watched as Blake went to Hunters side.

Tori on the other hand, spoke her thoughts. "What?" she said incredulously. For the second time she looked from her cousin to her friends and back. "What do you mean ex-girlfriend? When did this happen?"

Alexis turned to face her cousin, but before she could speak, her injury from the battle began to hurt. She clasped it, and would have fallen had Tori not caught her. The two exchanged silent messages.

"Cam," Tori said. "Alexis need help." 

"I'm on it." the samurai ninja said. He went over to the area where medicine was kept. The last thing Alexis saw was Hunters face, his lips pressed firmly together, before everything went black.

Danny was lead into the main room on Lothor spaceship.

"Ahh. I see our guest has arrived."

"What do you want with me Lothor?" Danny demanded. He pulled at the kelzaks holding him, but their grip remained strong.

"Well isn't it obvious? I am going to do the same thing to you as I did last time. I'm going to make your friend chose who to save again." Lothor laughed as he spoke.

Danny thought over this in his head. Dark memories came to him.

**FLASHBACK**

_NO! Alexis screamed. She fell to her knees on the ruins of the Volcano Academy_.

_Danny fought through the swarms of kelzaks. A hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned to face Zurgane.  
"You're coming with me."  
~~~_  
_"Ready?"Alexis called, pulling her morpher up, her eyes never leaving the approaching aliens.  
"Ready." Two voices called from behind her.  
"Volcano Storm, Ranger Form, HA!" They called while making the correct motions.  
"Scarlet Ranger!" Alexis called  
"Amber Ranger!" Danny called.  
"Cobalt Ranger" A third voice called.  
_-  
**End of flashbacks**

"Josh." Danny breathed. He again pulled at his bonds, with more fury this time, as anger rushed to his head. "You monster!" He screamed. "You already destroyed the Cobalt ranger. You put Alexis through more misery than a girl should ever have to, and now you're going to destroy her from the inside."

Lothor just laughed evilly. "Actually," he said, "I didn't destroy your precious third ranger. He is still very much alive."

Danny felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. The air left his lungs and he forgot how to breathe. He let the information sink in. Josh, the Cobalt ranger was alive. His best friend was alive. "Where is he?" Danny croaked.

"On the island of Helicoid. An island filled with ninja, some there as punishment, some there to live as a ninja forever, others were born there." Lothor answered. "Now, in order to have to make your friend chose, we need another life. One of those rangers will do nicely. Zurgane, take that alien and get me another ranger."

"As you wish." Zurgane said and left. Danny felt like the world was in pieces as he was dragged away, back to his cell


	7. The Next Step

Volcano storm Ch 7

For the second time that day, Alexis awoke and noticed two things. This time, it was that a tingling feeling was running through her, and that her cousin's concerned face was hovering over her. 

" 'Lexis? Can you hear me?" Tori said.

"No, try again when her body is normal."

Tori smiled at her cousin. She helped her into a sitting position. Alexis realized she was at Ninja Ops.

"Why do I feel all, like, tingly?" Alexis asked.

" Sorry cuz, but you're going to have to wait a couple hours before you're at full strength. We gave you some medicine for your wound, but it has some side affects. "

"Huh... it's like the feeling I get when I'm being watched."

Tori shifted sheepishly. "Hey, beats being dead."

Alexis got to her feet. Tori and Cam had definitely healed her, as she was no longer in pain and could move without trouble. She glanced at her surroundings. Cam was on the computer, Shane, Dustin, and Blake were sparing. She could feel Hunter's eyes on her back. She quickly realized he had been watching her from his position. She got excited at the idea he was concerned, but mentally slapped herself a second later. _'Focus Scarlet'_ she willed herself. She was about to ask Tori how long she had been asleep, but an alarm went off from the computer. All six ninjas crowded around Cam. An image of Ash-a-Trops and a bunch of kelzaks came up.

"Monster is attacking the city." Cam said.

_'No duh, genius.'_ Alexis thought, but held her peace.

"Let's get down there." Shane said.

"Wait," Tori said. She turned to her cousin."You think you can handle this?"

Alexis turned back to the screen. That monster had Danny. Her best friend, practically her brother. She set her lips in a hard line and turned back, giving one quick, strong nod.

"Alright, let's do this." Shane said. "Ready?"

"Ready." the Wind, Thunder and Volcano ninjas replied

_'Hope I don't have to get used to that.' _Alexis thought.

"Ninja Storm,"  
"Thunder Storm"  
"Volcano Storm"  
"Ranger Form , HA!"

People were screaming and running by the time the rangers got there.

"Whoa, that is one ugly monster." Dustin commented.

"Wait till you have to see him up-close." Alexis said. The kelzaks started to swarm towards them. Alexis and Tori looked at each other.

"Allow us." Tori said. She and Alexis stepped in front of the boys, making the same arm gestures. Two streams, one of water and the other of fire, shot towards the kelzaks. The two girls leaped into action fighting of the minions. The guys went off towards the monster. This went on for a while. They gave it their all, but soon the monster had gained the upper hand. The rangers regrouped, panting and clutching various injuries. 

"Man this guy is tough." Blake commented. 

"He wasn't like this before." Alexis said.

The monster let out a roar and the kelzaks started to swarm towards the rangers again.

"It could just be me, but I think that monster said destroy us." Tori said.

The rangers took their fighting stance again. But before they could move, Ash-a-Trops, despite his somewhat bulky form, moved like a flash and grabbed Dustin.

"Dustin!" Tori called. The rangers tried to get to him, but the kelzaks pushed them back. Before the rangers could attack again, the kelzaks and monster teleported away with Dustin.

"Aw man, no way." Hunter said. The 5 rangers de-morphed.

"Why would Lothor want Dustin?" Tori asked.

"I don't know, but now he has Dustin and Danny." Shane said.

Alexis was deep in her own thoughts. _'This doesn't make any sense. Why would Lothor want the two of them? I can get the taking Danny, but I don't know why he would want that yellow ranger.'_

"Alexis?"

Alexis was shaken from her thoughts. Tori stood looking at her strangely. "Yeah?"

Tori looked her cousin up and down before replying. "Let's get back to Ninja Ops and figure this out."

"Right, of course." Alexis said. She took her cousins hand and streaked back to Ops.

"Alright, so what do we know?" Cam asked.

"Lothor kidnapped Danny and Dustin." Shane said.

"Both are his enemies, buts that about it for things they have in common. Why would he want those two?" Alexis said.

"Wait, both of them is a yellow-ish ranger color. Maybe that's it?" Blake suggested.

"Amber is more of an orange color. And besides, color just represents their power. Dustin has the power of earth, and Danny's power comes from fire, like me. Nothing alike, so were back to square one." Alexis sighed. The six ninja sat in silence.

Alexis thought to herself _'The last time Danny was taken, Lothor took Cobalt also. He couldn't have taken Dustin as a replacement for Cobalt. He couldn't pull that trick again. He wouldn't, right?'_

Her questions were soon answered. On the computer, the screen flickered on. The ninja rushed over.

"Cam, what's happening?" Shane asked.

"Where receiving an unidentified transmission." Cam said.

"Well is that good?" Hunter asked.

"As long as the sender remains unidentified, I wouldn't know." Cam replied.

"Answer it." Sensei said. Cam did. No one was expecting Lothor to appear, but he did.

"Lothor!" the rangers cried.

"Hello Rangers." Lothor sneered.

"Give us our friends back." Tori demanded.

"Oh, you mean these." Lothor gestured behind him. To the ranger's horror, they saw Dustin and Danny hanging by their wrists, unconscious.

"What did you do to them?" Blake asked.

"Nothing too bad, yet." Lothor said evilly. " The real question is what _you'll _do to them."

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked, but she already knew the answer. She remembered the torture perfectly.

"I owe a bit of a dept, so I can't destroy both of them. You get to chose one to save."

"What?" Tori said.

"No way." Shane said.

"We wouldn't do that." Cam said

"Danny." Alexis said.

The others, Sensei included, looked at Alexis, but she didn't look back. Her eyes were focused on her best friends limp form.

"Alexis, you're not thinking." Tori said gently.

"Let Danny go." Alexis repeated.

"No!" Hunter said to Lothor. He grabbed Alexis's wrist, and roughly turned her to face him. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

Alexis blinked, as if waking from a daze. Her eyes started to tear as she answered angrily, "I'm saving my best friend, what does it looks like?"

"It looks like your sacrificing us for yourself. I knew we should of known better than to trust a Volcano Ninja."

"You have four hours to decide." Lothor said, and disappeared from the screen. Alexis yanked her hand from Hunter.

"I need to get Danny back." she said again.

Hunter turned to Tori. "Now do you believe us, Volcano Ninjas are evil. Your own cousin is willing to sacrifice your friend for their own gain in power."

Alexis felt her jaw drop. The tears that had been gathering fell over hey eyelids. Hunter looked at confusedly. 

"You're wrong about that Hunter." Alexis said. "That and so many other things." And Alexis streaked out of Ninja Ops.

"What did she mean your wrong about so many things?" Shane asked.

"He is." Tori said. The other rangers looked at her. "You have no idea what Alexis has been through. I don't like it, but I understand why her first concern was Danny."

"Alright than tell us." Hunter said.

_With Alexis_  
Alexis didn't stop until she was at the beach. Not knowing where she was heading, not even thinking, she went to a group of boulders in shallow water. She climbed over them until she found what she was looking for. She sat down, crossed legged in the small pool surrounded by rocks. Her jean shorts quickly soaked through, but she didn't care. She began to calm down as she remembered that day the Volcano Academy had fallen.  
_With the others_  
"Alright I'll tell you." Tori said. The story began for both girls.

**A/N- So, whatya think? Sorry it took so long, I was away, and I'm moving so that's taking a lot of time. I hope it's not too much a cliffhanger, cause who knows how long it'll take to write that memory. I think this might be my longest chapter yet. Also, some of you might remember from chapter 6 I said the Cobalt's ranger (don't worry he's coming up in the story) name was Brad. Well it is going to be changed to Josh. Don't ask me why, it came to me in a dream, and I don't mess with messages from dreams. So Ill edit that. Thanks for the reviews,**

**JasonLeeScottFan- I am not only going to explain, I am going to write a tie in that tells there story**

**Sonny01- thanks, buy I'll give her the powers**

**Taeniaea- thanks**

**I'll do my best to update as soon as possible. Catch y'all later.**

**AN 2- I think I'm getting to the part where the story isn't a load of crap. Less edits, I'll tell you that. Just FYI, the most major change is now both Alexis and Danny are fire ninja,**


	8. Memory

Volcano storm ch 8

**(Ok this is Alexis's memory and Tori's story)**

_It was a beautiful day all across Hawaii. Alexis, Danny, and Josh were headed towards a small volcano. They were having a good time.  
"Hey Danny, how long till we have to be back at the Academy?" Josh asked._

_Alexis groaned "Please, could we not worry about that. We spend practically every waking moment doing Academy things, I am taking this hour as sacred time that I can be a regular girl, not just a ninja." she crosses her arms for good measure._

_"Careful Scarlet, last time you acted like a regular girl, it got us in a whole lot of trouble." Josh warned, serious and joking at the same time. He was talking about a time when Alexis's feelings for an enemy had almost ruined their mission with the Thunder Academy. Ever since then, romance was a dangerous thing to her, and she had dismissed it as something girls with normal lives get, and she was just not a girl with a normal life._

_"Whatever Cobalt, it was just a girl thing. Not like it will ever happen again."_

_"It better not, or we might have a war on our hands." Danny said. He jumped down from the waist high stone wall he had been walking on as they reached the end if the path. It was as far as tourists would go, for everyone knew the volcano was active and could go off at anytime. But anyone who was like the trio would know what lied at the base. Making sure no one was watching, they ducked behind some trees and streaked to the base of the volcano. They stopped at a large rock. Without giving it a second thought, Danny walked right into the rock, but instead of bumping into it, he passed right through. Josh was next, followed by Alexis. When they emerged from the rock, they were at the Volcano Ninja Academy. The first sight was of the young students training with each other. Behind them, the tall building that severed as a teaching center and home for the boarding students stood.  
"Alexis!" a voice called. Alexis turned to see Sensei Anko calling her. She turned back to the boys.  
"Well, got to run. Catch ya after class."  
She went over to her Sensei to help teach the younger students. As one of the senior students, she taught regularly, leaving her own training to early morning and late afternoon. She was a role model to the younger ninjas, but often under-estimated, since she was the one of the only female fire ninja. There was only three other females at the Volcano academy, a younger ninja, which was commonly known as a spark, the first ones __sister, who was also a senior, and Sensei Anko, a teacher.  
_

_Alexis helped demonstrate a new fire technique, to use your inner fire and warm yourself and those around her. The volcano academy didn't normally focus mainly on self defense, but had recently devoted more attention to it at the command of Sensei Haruno, their head teacher. The class went by without problem. After they were dismissed, a few students came up to Alexis. She made a few appointments to tutor, and was on her way. She was only a few steps from the building when she felt it. Looking around, she knew everyone else felt it too. Even from the fire still glowing bright in some of them, everyone was shivering. An untrained human would dismiss the sudden chill as a strong wind, but as a ninja, Alexis sensed the dark magic. Without wasting a second, she streaked inside to Sensei Haruno's office. She burst into the door, and was shocked at the first person she saw. Sensei was there, of course, but she didn't expect Josh there with him. They looked very serious, and wet hovering over some important looking scrolls.  
"Alexis, what are you doing there?" Josh asked  
Alexis collected herself. "Did you feel the dark magic that just passed?"  
Sensei spoke now. "Yes we are sure it's just some fool unknowingly practicing dark magic, and are sending out some ninjas to track him. Nothing we haven't seen before, don't get worried."  
But Alexis was no idiot. It hadn't just been some fool. That hadn't happened in years and they had forgotten she knew all the dark magic scrolls were locked up in the library.  
"Sensei please, it was much more than that, I know it was, what's going on?" Alexis pleaded.  
"It's nothing a pretty young lady should lose sleep over; just go back to your room." Josh said, the frustration in his eyes betraying the 'confident' smile on his face.  
"I'm not just a girl, I'm a senior fire ninja and I want to know." Alexis cried, slamming her foot in the ground. She knew her actions were normally reserved for brats, but she didn't care.  
"God damn it Alexis, for once just listen to your big brother!" Josh yelled back at her.  
_  
At this point Shane interrupted Tori.  
"Wait, brother?" He asked. Tori let out an annoyed sigh  
"Yes, Alexis had an older brother, Josh."  
"So that means you have two Volcano Ninja cousins, plus Danny?" Blake asked, hiding the annoyance in his voice at Danny's name.  
"That's right, now can I finish?"  
"Wait, why did you say had a brother?" Cam asked.  
"You'll find out soon enough now let me finish."

_Alexis reeled back. It wasn't often Josh got mad at her, and she still hated making her brother upset as much as she had the first time. Wordlessly, she turned and ran back to her room. She shut the door quietly behind her. She took a look around her room. The dorms at the academy were made for two, but since there were only four girls, one being a teacher and the other two were sisters, she got it lucky. The two closets were a definite plus, Alexis suspected they were the reason she was a shopaholic. She also got a small TV, a personal phone line and a stereo system, though those she had bought herself. There was a small seat next to the double windows, which she went to now. Looking out, she could see all the activity on the ground. Everything looked normal, but she still couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong she was so deep in her thoughts; she jumped when her phone rang. She answered it.  
"Hello."_

_"Hey cuz"_

_"Tori, what's up"_

_"Not much, picking up the guys early so were not late to ninja training again."_

_"Oh right, were done practices over here."_

_"Nice, look I was wondering, are you still coming over next week."_

_Alexis sighed. She was supposed to go to California for an annual tournament between the Volcano Ninjas and the Thunder ninjas, but the Thunder academy had never confirmed it.  
"I don't know Tor; my plans are kind of, in question."_

_"Oh ok, what is it, ranger stuff?"_

_Alexis smiled, when she had become the Scarlet Ranger a couple of months ago, Tori was the only other person to know besides Danny and Josh, the Amber and Cobalt rangers, and Sensei Haruno._

_"Nah nothing like that. Look you get to class; I'll talk to you later." With that, Alexis hung up the phone. She realized it was time for dinner but she had no appetite. For lack of a better option she crawled onto her bed and turned on the TV. Eventually she fell asleep, with dreams of coldness and blackness._

_She woke a couple hours later to the sound of pounding on the door. She hastily answered it, wishing she had time to fix herself up. She opened the door and surprisingly found herself face to face with Darren. Darren was __the another senior fire ninja, one of Alexis's better sparing partners. Alexis had heard rumors he had a crush on her, but knocking on her door in the middle of the night seemed unreasonable. Oddly enough he looked very worried  
"Darren?" Alexis said "What's up?"  
"Alexis," he said quickly, "You're needed immediately"  
"What, now? What time is it."?  
"It'll be one in a couple of minutes, but Sensei Haruno is demanding the senior students report to him immediately. Everyone else is there already. We need to go."  
Alexis decided it would be best to ask for details later. Together the hurriedly raced through the hallways to Sensei's office. Upon arrival, Alexis surveyed the scene. Sensei Haruno was sitting at his desk with a distressed look on his face. To his left were the main teachers of the school, about six of them. Kneeling on the pillows in front of him were three other senior students, and a place for Darren. On his right were Danny and Josh. She took her place next to Josh. Finally Sensei Haruno cleared his voice and began to speak.  
"I am sure you're all wondering why you were called here at this time. I must tell you the news is not good. It seems a dark ninja has come to invade our planet from space." a collective gasp was heard around the room.  
'I was right, there was dark magic!' Alexis thought to herself, but said nothing aloud.  
"But Sensei, what should we do." Darren asked.  
Sensei spoke again. "Lothor is the name of this fallen ninja. We have received word that just today, well yesterday now, he attacked and destroyed the Wind Ninja Academy"  
"What!" Alexis yelled. She stared at her Sensei, praying that what he said wasn't true.  
"Do not fear Alexis, luckily, the Sensei there, Watanabe, survived the attack. He informed me your cousin and two of her friends were late that day and are unharmed."  
Alexis let her breath out, not realizing she had been holding it. Next to her, she felt Josh and Danny doing something similar.  
"But Sensei, how did they fight him." a ninja asked.  
"This way." and Sensei turned around to push a button. A screen lowers from the ceiling, startling the students, who didn't think Sensei knew anything about technology. Pressing another button, and image appeared of three, morphed figures. They watched the three fight a monster.  
"More Rangers." Danny said.  
"And take a closer look at the blue one." Josh said. Alexis did. A water __powered one, obviously female cause of the skirt. But it was the way she fought that really got Alexis.  
"Tori!" she cried. Sensei nodded.  
"That is indeed your cousin Alexis. She was chosen as a power ranger along with her friends." Sensei replied.  
Alexis was so excited for a second she didn't realize the obvious. Finally it dawned her, her face turning from excitement to fear. "Wait a minute, if Lothor attacked the Wind, what about us?"  
Sensei let out a sigh that seemed to age him. "We have thought of that. When our spies returned with the information, it wasn't good news. That is the reason we have called you all here tonight. The Volcano academy will be attacked tonight." at first silence met his words, and then everyone began to talk at once.  
"What do we do?"  
"Raise the alarm."  
"Get the students out."  
"Pack our bags and run"  
" We won't run." Josh said. Everyone stopped and looked at her. Sensei nodded at him before speaking again.  
"Josh is right. We will stay and fight for our school." Sensei began to give orders. "Darren, raise the alarm. Sensei Anko, assemble the students. You two," he pointed at the sisters," open the weaponry. Everyone else, help Anko. Alexis, Danny, and Josh, stay." the three students waited until everyone else had left before approaching him.  
"This new threat is stronger than any other in my lifetime. You three must lead the students through this battle. We chose you as our Power Rangers for a reason you know."  
"Yes sir." They replied in union.  
"Now go join your friends." he dismissed them. But he remembered something else as they were about to leave. "Alexis." he called. The three turned back.  
"Yes Sensei?" she asked.  
"We received intelligence that the reason the Thunder Academy has not responded is because they have also fallen at the hands of this ninja. I trust that is of no problem to you?"  
No one not even Tori knew what went through Alexis's head, her facial expression was impossible to read, but she squared up her shoulders and replies," Of course not Sensei." an left with Danny and Josh._

"Nothing, we meant nothing to her." Hunter muttered.  
"Hey bro, don't worry about it, not like we care about her." Blake said.  
"And you still don't know what Alexis thought about before she answered." Shane said.  
"Her answer was exactly what a Volcano Ninja would be expected to say." Tori said.  
"And maybe if we find out what happened, she'll tell us what she was thinking." Cam said. "So what happened Tori?

_An hour later, the Volcano Academy was assembled. They faced the open grounds and waited. They didn't wait long. A flash of lightning brought down several aliens. Alexis watched as they approached  
"Ready?" Alexis asked.  
"Ready." two more voices answered  
"Volcano Storm, Ranger Form, HA!  
"Power of Fire, Scarlet Ranger! Alexis called.  
"Power of Fire, Amber Ranger!" Danny called.  
"Power of Fire, Cobalt Ranger!" Josh called.  
"Power Rangers, Volcano Storm!" they all said.  
"Attack!" Alexis commanded. An epic battle broke out as the Volcano students charged the aliens and newly appeared kelzaks. Alexis was soon caught in a wave of fighters and lost sight of Danny and Josh. She would always hate herself for that, for if she hadn't, she might have been able to stop Choobo from grabbing Josh, and Zurgane from grabbing Danny. But she didn't and before she knew it, another shot came down, this one so powerful it scattered the students, most landing face down on the ground. Alexis, slowly picked herself up, bit was just greeted by the site of the ninjas being turned to orbs and flying into the air. Finally, the only ones left were her and one alien. She knew this one was called Lothor. She wanted to attack him, but felt too weak. She was slightly surprised to hear him speak to her.  
"I suppose you're wondering why I haven't captured you, aren't you." he said.  
"Why don't I just play along and say yes." Alexis replied icily.  
Lothor laughed at the girl's attitude. "You see when I first escaped from my prison; it was a Volcano Ninja who helped me. In return for the favor he did me, I swore on my dark powers if I ever captured a Volcano Ninja, I would release them."  
"Then why did you attack the Academy?" Alexis asked.  
Lothor laughed. "'A', little girl. One person. I made no promise about a whole school. But I'll be nice and let the one go. So which of your friends do you want to save?"  
"What?" Alexis yelled, "You expect me to choose any student to save?"  
"Actually, you can save one of these two." with a wave of his hand, Josh and Danny appeared, held by kelzaks.  
"Cobalt, Danny." Alexis said quietly. She knew she had to choose one, and the other would be Lothor's prisoner. Tears started to well up in her eyes. __"Why me?" she asked.  
"Why not you? You are the best this academy has to offer, you are the only one who has ever successfully infiltrated another ninja academy, your perfect for a life or death decision."  
'If I'm perfect and I get this, I would rather be a mess.' Alexis thought to herself.  
"You have four hours to decide." Lothor said, and disappeared. The tears Alexis had held back now flowed freely. She fell to her knees on what were now the ruins of the Volcano Academy. She cried at the lost of her home. The place that took her in when she was only five after her parents died. She cried until she was so exhausted she fell asleep._

_She only slept for a couple of minutes before she felt someone enter her dreams. Her consciousness became a solid form of her as Josh appeared.  
"Cobalt? How are you in my dreams?" She asked.  
"Scarlet, thank god you're safe. There isn't much time. I got here using a meditation technique Sensei taught us and for the moment, we're fine. But I need you to do something."  
"Just tell me how to rescue you all and I'm there." Alexis said.  
"You can't rescue us; we're all the way in space. But when Lothor appears to you again, you have to save Danny."  
"What! No way! What'll happen to you?"  
Josh sighed. "Most likely thing is he'll kill me. The other students are only prisoners, but since we have ranger powers, he won't want to keep us around."  
"I can't let you die. You're my big brother for god's sake."  
"Danny and I already agreed, you to make a better pair. You have to choose him, that's an order."  
"I'm team leader! I give the orders!" Alexis screamed, angry and sad at the same time.  
"This is not an order to the Scarlet Volcano Ranger; it's an order to Alexis Hanson, my little sister."  
Alexis looked down, knowing she couldn't beat him. Reluctantly, she nodded her head yes.  
"Good." Josh said. He sighed and Alexis looked up at him.  
"What?" she asked him.  
"Do you remember Mom and Dad?" he asked. The question startled her.  
"No, but I do remember that they didn't want me to become ninja, that's it."  
"It's just that I agree with Dad right now, if you had never become a ninja, you wouldn't be in this mess."  
"Hey," Alexis said, "I can still fend for myself. No matter, I'll always love being who I am." Josh smiled.  
__"For a big brother I didn't raise you too bad." both of them smiled. Josh turned to exit her dream, but quickly turned back. "I love you sis, don't ever forget that."  
Alexis smiled at her brother through the new tears that were forming. "I love you bro." and with that, Josh disappeared from her dream._

_Alexis awoke again and knew she had slept another couple of hours. A storm blew around her as Lothor appeared again. She quickly rose to her feet.  
"Well little one, have you decided?"_

_"Yes." Alexis said. "Give me Danny back."  
In a flash the amber ranger appeared._

_"Know that with your decision, you have doomed the Cobalt ranger." Lothor said._

_"We'll fight you. We can stop you with our powers." Alexis said, stronger than she felt._

_"Oh really, have either of you actually checked your morphers?" Lothor said. Alexis and Danny grabbed the morphers of their wrists and examined them. With horror, they realized the power coins that normally were their respective color and power, were now a dull gray.  
"What did you do?" Danny asked.  
"Just drained the power out of them. Unless you can find a source strong enough, there useless." and Lothor disappeared.  
Danny turned to Alexis. She was staring silently at the morpher."You want to cry?" he asked her.  
"No." Alexis shook her head." I have done nothing but cry all day. I want to do something now."_

_"Like?"_

_" Like find a power source. The Volcano Academy knew of an ancient one that belonged solely to us. That could regenerate our ranger powers. We'll find it, then go to Tori and the Wind rangers, and stop Lothor." Alexis said. She began to walk towards the now half destroyed building to begin her research. Danny looked at Alexis. Her plan was crazy, but it just might w_ork.

"And that's what happened." Tori finished. The boys were silent as they registered what Tori had told them. It was hard to believe Alexis had been through so many things. Abruptly, Tori stood up. "Well, I have a cousin to retrieve." and walked out of Ops.

**A/N- well that was a success. I considered stopping the chapter so many times, but I ended up finishing it. Sorry it's been forever ****since I posted, but it took a while to write. Next chapter will be much shorter. And people, seriously, REVIEW THE DANG CHAPTER. One person did last time, and I thank you Taeniaea, you are the reason I posted this. Next chapter when my bff stops bothering me about my other story, when I write it, and as long as I get reviews. Catch y'all later  
Pinkchik08**

**A/N 2-Once again, obvious change is that they are all fire ninja.**


	9. Heart to Heart

Volcano storm ch 9

Alexis reclined slightly in the water. The memory of the story gave her strength. It probably should have made her sad, with Cobalt's destruction, and it did, but he would never want her to mope about him, so she didn't. And she thought of how she had completed the first part of her mission. She and Danny had their ranger powers again. She was ecstatic when she morphed again, after nearly half a year; she was the Scarlet ranger again. She thought about the second part of the mission, to help the other rangers defeat Lothor. She couldn't think of anything better than fighting crime with her best friend and cousin. But that would mean fighting with the Thunders. If Teamwork training taught anything, it was that you must have complete trust if you want to function properly as a team. The Thunders would never trust her, and she couldn't trust them. She was lost in her thoughts, so she didn't hear the slight splashing behind her. In fact, she didn't notice any signs of Tori until she spoke up.

"Why is it whenever a fire ninja runs away, you can find them near the water?" she greeted

"Hey cuz." Alexis said, using the familiar greeting. Tori walked up beside her. She looked down at her cousin with sad eyes. Unlike Alexis, Josh's story made her nothing but sad. She thought her cousin was incredibly strong, but also knew she could be as fragile as glass. Without a word, she sat next to the girl. She remained quiet though.

"So," Alexis began, "Do I need to guess why you're here?"

"You're one to talk about guessing. You still haven't told me what happened with you and Hunter." Tori pointed out.

"Yes I did."

Tori looked at her confused. Then the truth dawned on her. "You mean, that time when you were sent on a mission undercover, and betrayed someone you cared about...

Alexis nodded.

Tori was bewildered. "That means you're the one who..,"

"Yeah." Alexis said before Tori could finish. She had done a terrible thing, and hated just hearing it.

Tori was silent again. When she finally pieced her thoughts together she asked the question on her mind. "So, are you going to help us rescue Danny and Dustin?"

"Of course I am Tor. It's just, hard, seeing Blake and Hunter."

"You know, Hunter was pretty worried after you fainted."

"Probably just shocked I lost consciousness."

"Is there anything I can say to make you happier?"

"No." Alexis replied simply. Tori groaned. Then, surprisingly, Alexis burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Tori asked.

"Nothing it's just, would you ever imagine me of all people being all weak over some breakup with a guy?"

Tori looked at her before laughing herself. "I think it's funny you even got a boyfriend at all."

Alexis gave her a gentle shove. "I would tell you it wasn't worth ruining my reputation, but..." she trailed off.

"But what?" Tori asked with a smile and a raise of her eyebrows.

"I wouldn't want you to get all mad at for telling you not to like Bradley boys, since you have feelings for Blake I mean."

"What!" Tori said in shock. "I don't, I just,"

"What, have feelings for one of the other guys who like you, cause you have a variety to chose from."

"What are you talking about?"

Alexis sighed. "Come on Tor, no one can hear us. Be straight with me."

Tori sighed herself. "Alright, so maybe I have a crush on Blake."

"And that's so hard to tell me... Why? Alexis asked.

"Because, it's childish. And he doesn't feel the same way." Tori said.

Alexis laughed. "Cuz, I really need to teach you more about guys. I may not date them, but trust me, flirting and telling if they like you or not is a specialty I've picked up."

"Every guy you meet likes you."

"And you're any different?"

Tori smiled shyly."You think he likes me?" she asked.

Alexis smiled deviously." Tell you what, ask him yourself."

Tori pushed her on the shoulder."You're evil!" she exclaimed.

"My specialty cuz." Alexis stood. "I guess we should get back to Ops. I think they'll be able to handle me better now that I've had time to think clearly and won't go sacrificing your friends."

"That's good." Tori said and stood too. Alexis sent heat throughout her body to dry her soaked clothing, and Tori used her powers to remove the water from her own. Both headed back to the beach when Tori stopped suddenly.

"Wait!" she said, "What did you mean; I had a lot to choose from?"

"Oh." Alexis said." Just a couple of these guys like you."

"Like who?"

"Well let's see other than Blake, we have the green one, except he only has a small amount of feelings for you, and won't act on them, the yellow one might of liked you, but I think someone else makes him not, red one, not so much, plenty of guys who see you surfing like you, you are very talented and good looking after all, and I think even Hunter might one day develop feelings for you if it doesn't work with Blake."Alexis slowed a little on the last part, as if it were painful to say. "Oh yeah, and don't forget Danny still likes you a lot." she finished.

"I don't think it'll work between me and Danny again." Tori said.

"Thank you, it was weird having my best friend date my cousin." Alexis said.

"Hey, say what you want bit Danny was a pretty awesome boyfriend." Tori said.

"I don't get how you would ever think that lovable, oblivious lump could..." Alexis was cut off by the sound of movements above her. Both girls looked up to see Blake and Hunter.

"What are you guys doing here?" Tori called.

"Sensei sent us to get you, times nearly half way up." Blake called back.

"We'll be up in a minute don't worry." Tori answered. The brothers were about to turn to leave when Alexis yelled.

"Hey, did you hear what we just talking about?" She yelled.

"No, why?" Blake said.

Alexis seemed to relax, "No reason, we'll be back in a couple of minutes." The boys turned and streaked away.

The girls continued up to Tori's van. They were about half way back to Ninja Ops when Tori spoke again. "You still didn't answer my other question."

"What was that?" Alexis asked.

"Why does whenever a fire ninja run off, you find them near the water."

Alexis thought for a moment before replying. "Water dampens my power a bit. I guess I just like feeling like I couldn't burn something up in less than a second. It makes me feel almost, normal."

Tori accepted this answer without a word. They continued in silence until they hopped out of the car to streak the rest of the way to Ops. Tori might have been mistaken, but it looked as if regret flashed on Alexis face, just for a second. Before she could ask about it, Alexis smiled at her.

"Well, let's go save our friends buts." and streaked off. All Tori could do was smile and streak after her.

************************************************************  
**(Rewind, back to Blake and Hunter)**

Blake and Hunter arrived back at Ninja Ops a matter of seconds after they left the beach. Cam was questioning them as soon as they got back.

"Where are the girls? Is Tori alright? Is Alexis alright? Did she calm down?"

"Whoa, calm down. The girls will be back in a couple of minutes. They're both fine, and Alexis seems like she's cooled down." Hunter replied.

Cam relaxed a bit. He noticed Blake was standing back a bit, silent. He nodded his head at Blake, so only Hunter could see. Hunter on the other hand, didn't seem to care much about secrecy.

"Don't worry about him. He's just upset his girlfriend is worried about her ex."

"Oooohh" Shane said with a grin.

"She's not my girlfriend." Blake said.

"Yeah but it's no secret you want her to be." Shane said.

"I have to agree, the way you look at her and act around her, it's obvious." Cam agrees

"Shut up! It's not like she feels the same way." the guys just laughed.

"Are you sure you're not upset that you have to help rescue her ex, who happens to be your rival." Hunter teased.

"Wait, Danny and Tori dated?" Cam asked.

"Yeah I remember a couple years ago when Alexis, Josh, and Danny visited. We didn't know they were ninja back then, since we wern't yet. That's when they got together. I heard they broke up a couple months later. Tori never talked about them much." Shane informed them. Blake looked like he was about to say something else when they heard a whooshing sound. They turned to see Alexis and Tori.  
"Well," Alexis clasped her hands. "Let's find our friends."

**A/N- yeah I know, drastically short compared to the last chapter, but hey, packed a whole story in that chapter and wanted to get this up as soon as possible. Anyway, one to reviews**

**Taeniaea- thanks again for reviewing**

**JasonLeeScottFan- glad you liked it. I think its average length. I actually wrote this a while ago, I'm only remembering to finish it up now. Don't worry, all will be explained.**

**Catch y'all later  
Pinkchik08**


	10. Preparation

Volcano Storm Ch 10

About an hour after Alexis and Tori returned to Ops, Dustin woke up on Lothor's spaceship. The first thing he noticed was the wriggling figure next to him. 

"Dude," he said looking over, "hey wait a sec, you're that guy, Danny. What are you doing here?"  
Danny looked at Dustin.  
"Look who's finally awake. You've been out for the last three hours. And we're both here for the same reason. To take part in Lothor's evil plot. Remember anything?"

"Fighting that monster, than Zurgane grabbing me, that's pretty much it." Dustin said.

"Well, you didn't miss much." Danny assured him.

"Why does Lothor want us?" Dustin asked.

Danny sighed. "It happened once before. I was taken along with my friend Josh."

"I remember him. He came when you visited a few years ago."

"Yeah that's him. A couple months ago, when Lothor first attacked the Volcano Academy, he captured Josh and me. He forced Alexis to choose one of us to save, and the other would most likely die. Or so we thought. Josh was able to use his ninja abilities to appear to Alexis in her sleep, and forced her to save me." Danny explained.

"Why would he do that?" Dustin asked.

"He felt Alexis and I made a better team. One that would accomplish more. Plus, he didn't want anything to happen to me. So Alexis obeyed him, ironic since she's team captain. So I was released, but me and Alexis lost our morphing powers. And I just found out, Josh wasn't destroyed at all. Lothor sent him to the island of Helicoid."

"The island of what?"

"Helicoid. An island whose inhabitants are immortal, but trapped. It is a prison for ninjas, some who angered stronger ninjas and was sent there as punishment, some who failed to rescue their comrades and some willingly, so they could live forever as a ninja. The thing about the island, the only way back is to either be rescued by a ninja of your own kind and everyone who's tried has become trapped themselves, or to be brought back by the ninja who sent you, and frankly, that doesn't happen."

"So Lothor will make our friends choose one of us, and the other will go to this doomed island?"

"Basically"

"Oh well," Dustin said, "That's wonderful."

"Now isn't the time to be sarcastic. We only have one hour until that have to choose. I've tried to break the chains, but they held tight." Danny replied.

Dustin was quiet for a second, than asked, "You don't have much of a sense of humor do you?"

Danny seemed almost puzzled by the question. He thought it over for what seemed like an eternity. "I guess not. I always have to be the serious one, making sure Alexis doesn't shop herself broke and keeping her in line. She always goes overboard, so I try to be serious enough to keep her back."

"Well, if we ever get out of here, you should really lighten up."

"Noted. So, you're more experienced with Lothor. Any idea how to get out of here?" Danny said.

"Actually," Dustin looked around at the red walls and the chains they were hanging from," no."

************************************************************  
**(Throne area type place of spaceship)**

"How are our guests doing?" Lothor asked.

"Beginning to return to consciousness sir, but well bound."Zurgane replied.

"Good." Lothor said. "I don't want anything getting in the way of my plan."

"Um, Uncle?" Marah asked.

"What do you want?" Lothor snarled.

"Well I was just wondering, that island of Helicoid place, is it, like dangerous?"

"Don't you two learn anything? There are vicious beasts there, yes, but the inhabitants don't age, so it's a balanced deal. Why do you ask anyway?"

"Oh, I was just wondering, you know how they would suffer." Marah stuttered. _'I really hope they save Dustin'_ she thought.

**(Back at Ops)**  
Hunter studied Alexis. She was bent over at the computer, her hand resting on Cam's chair. Her hair fell so it covered her eyes from Cam's point of view. She had changed a lot. Her hair for one thing. When Hunter had first met her, Alexis's hair was down to her hips, auburn, and always kept in a tight pony tail. Now it was short, barely touching her shoulders, she always wore it down, and she had died it to be red like fire. It actually looked pretty good. Her eyes, which once shone like emeralds, seemed to have dulled, but that might be because that didn't have the twinkle they used to. She had gotten taller, almost as tall as Hunter. She still had a fit body though, and though Hunter hadn't gotten a chance to see it yet, he hoped she still smiled the same way, the smile she used when she was genuinely happy, not the half-hearted kind, or evil smirk kind she had given him before.  
Then Hunter caught himself. _'What am I doing? I hate her. She betrayed me, she is the reason for the Thunder Academy's destruction.'_ he thought. _'Well, it was also our fault. But she played a part in it.'_ Hunter clenched his fist with his indecision  
Blake was having his own case of indecision. He kept looking from Tori to Alexis. If he was asked to think of the women he remembered most in his life, both were high on the list. Only problem, one he wanted to be his girlfriend, and one he wanted to sock in the stomach. Alexis's helping annoyed him. He wished he could just continue believing she was an evil force who left his school and brother vulnerable. Instead, he was seeing her as this caring person who would do anything for this boy. _'That's not going to make Hunter happy.'_ he thought. _'And then there's the fact she Tori's cousin. Her COUSIN! You'd think we' of figured it out.' _Blake wanted to slap himself. Fortunately, he was interrupted by a sudden groan from Alexis. The girl pressed her hand to her head, closing her eyes tightly.  
"Alexis?" Tori asked, taking a step towards her cousin.  
"Ugh!" Alexis groaned. She grabbed her head with both hands and collapsed on the ground.  
"Alexis!" was the last thing she heard before everything went black."

Alexis opened her eyes and was surprised to be in her old room. "What the heck?" she asked. She walked over to the window. Pulling back the curtain, she looked at the training grounds a story below. There was a weird white mist that made it hard to see, but not impossible. Alexis saw ninjas sparing below and a very familiar figure. "Josh!" she cried and turned to exit, buy was startled to realize the mist was in her room as well as outside. "Where am I?" she said aloud.

"Technically, you're room." a voice said.

"Danny!" she exclaimed. She hugged him as the boy stepped through the mist and into her site. "What's going on?"

"First, you have to know that this isn't reality. It's a part of your mind."

Alexis looked at him strangely, "Huh"

"Basically, I did what Josh did last time. I used a ninja technique to transport myself into your head, so I could warn you"

"Warn me about what?" Alexis asked.

"Lothor lied to us. Josh wasn't destroyed he's alive."

Alexis lit up. "That's great! Where..." she began but was hushed by Danny.

"He's on the island of Helicoid." Danny told her.

Alexis felt the smile flee her face. "How do I get there?"

"There's a scroll in the Wind Ninja's possession that will take you there. If you're gone by the time Lothor demands an answer, he'll send us both to Helicoid, so you can find us."

Alexis nodded. "Alright I'll do it."

"Be careful Alexis," Danny said, "the island of Helicoid imprisons some of the most dangerous of ninjas, and keeps monsters to guard them."

"I'll be careful." Alexis promised.

"That's not enough. You'll need to bring the other rangers."

Alexis gave Danny her best, 'Are you kidding?' look.

Danny actually laughed. "No I'm not. Think about it this way, you can show up Thunder Ninjas while you work."

Alexis laughed at his joke. "Just do me one favor." I tell him

"What?"

"Get out my head; I keep private thoughts in here. Alexis said smacking him on the arm lightly. Danny laughed and disappeared.

Alexis woke up to see her friend surrounding her.  
"Alexis?" Tori asked.

Alexis say up. "I know what to do."

**A/N-Well, that took forever; I meant to post this on Christmas as a gift but never got to it. Then I lost the story, but anyway here it is. Watch y'all think? I really liked the description of Alexis in the past, if I do say so myself. REVIEW ANSWER TIME!**

**JasonLeescottfan- I'm sorry, I'm making the chapters a long as I can. All will be explained if your just patient. But a preview is, Alexis is very stubborn and instinctive, and she is obedient to what her teachers tell her to do. And I thought the little cousin heart to heart was sweet.**

**BLAZINGXDARKNESS- 1. Did I write your name right? 2. I'm so glad you liked it, don't worry, I want to see this one out.**

**Well that's it for now. Please Review, they inspire me. Anyone got any good ideas for vicious beasts that live on islands? Cause I need some. Till chapter 11  
Catch y'all later  
pinkchik08**


	11. Helicoid

Volcano Storm Ch 11

Alexis stood quickly and immediately regretted it.  
"Whoa there," Tori said as she caught her from stumbling. "Why don't you take it easy and tell us what happened."  
"I got a visit, from Danny."  
"Danny?"  
"Yeah"Alexis said rubbing her forehead. "It's a technique senior students learn in case one of us get hurt. You can go inside their head, but they have to be unconscious, or it could damage your brain."  
"Alright, so what did Danny say?" Shane asked.  
"He told me that if we leave before the time to choose, Lothor will send both of them to the island of Helicoid. You know what that is, right?"  
Everyone shook their heads.  
"Huh." she sighed and turned to Sensei, "Care to tell them."  
Sensei turned to his students," The Island of Helicoid, more commonly known as the Ninja Island, is a perilous island floating in a dimension of it's own. The only way to get there is by either going with the intention of saving a ninja from your own academy who was already there, being sent their as punishment by a stronger ninja, or with the intention of staying there forever."  
"Why would someone want to stay there forever?" Tori asked.  
"The island inhabitants don't age, so one could live as a ninja forever." Alexis told her.  
"Ahh."  
"Just one problem." Hunter said. Everyone turned to look at him. "It needs to be with the intention to save a ninja from your own kind, and there are no Thunder Ninjas for us to save."  
"Well considering the fact it's the Thunder School there probably are, we just don't know who." Alexis muttered.  
"What?" Hunter said.  
"Nothing."  
"Hunter is right" Sensei said. "The portal will detect both there intentions and their abilities. If they are to pass successfully, you will have to mask their abilities."  
Everyone was silent at the impossible task.  
"I can do it."  
All head snapped to Alexis. "What?" Cam said.  
"I can make the portal believe that they are fire ninja."  
"How?" Shane asked  
"Well, I'm not positive it will work, but before Lothor captured him, Sensei was beginning to teach me a new technique. It might help us."  
"Wait, so your not sure if this will work, you haven't mastered the technique, and you haven't even finished learning it, yet you expect us to trust you on this?" Blake asked.  
"I agree, it's way to dangerous." Hunter said.  
"In that case I can just go with the Wind Ninjas and the Samurai Ninja while you stay here and babysit earth." Alexis suggested.  
That was the key phrase to get to the Thunders.  
"No way, we're coming." Hunter said.  
"Good, than let's go."  
Sensei somewhat reluctantly got out the scroll that could transport them. They watched nervously a he opened it. Almost immediately, a swirling purple portal opened. If they looked closely, they could see large moving shapes through it.  
Tori took a deep breath and moved to be the first one through, but Shane, being the overprotective leader, beat her to it.  
"Remember, focus on rescuing a fellow Wind Academy Ninja. Clear you thoughts of everything else." Alexis said. Shane closed his eyes, took a breath, and stepped through.  
After a few seconds they were positive he made it through, Tori stepped up to the portal. She repeated Shane's actions and soon disappeared.  
Alexis waited for Cam to go through but he stayed were he was.  
"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" she asked.  
"Someone's got to watch over earth while you guys get Dustin and Danny back."  
"Suit yourself." Alexis stepped in front of the portal. She sensed Blake and Hunter step up on either side of her. She took a deep breath. '_Get a hold of yourself 'Lexis, you should be worried about Helicoid, not about this.'_But she still bit her lip slightly when she took there hands. Blake immediately cringed at her touch, and she felt the motion through his hand. Hunter responded with his hand beginning to sweat.  
Both boys didn't know what to expect. They only knew that suddenly a massive wave of heat came of Alexis and their bodies felt like fire was coursing through veins. They were only vaguely aware of Alexis jumping through the portal and pulling them with her.

When the pain finally subsided, Blake could finally take in his surroundings. There was a clerk blue sky, and he was lying on his back in lush green grass. What stood out most though was Tori leaning over him, her worried blue eyes staring down at him.  
"Blake?" she asked.

"Hey Tor." he replied.

A smile lit up her face. "Thank god your okay."  
Blake turned his head to the side and found Hunter in a position similar to his own, with Shane making sure he was all right. Tori helped him into a sitting position.

To Blake's surprise, a few feet front in front of him was Alexis, on her knees, panting heavily. She looked like she was hugging herself, her arms were clinging so tightly to one another. She looked pretty sick. Memories of what happened earlier began to filled. The portal, the feeling fire was running through his body. The pain.

Unfortunately, at the same time, Hunter had remembered, and he had regained his strength much quicker than his brother. He jumped up and maybe it was because he was so strong, or because she was so weak, but he grabbed her so roughly she flipped over completely. Blake was a little surprised too see her just sitting there on her butt, arms shaking as they desperately tried to support herself, and most importantly, terrified. '_Wait,'_he thought,_'she's scared of Hunter?'_  
"What the heck did you think you were doing?" Hunter screamed at Alexis. "You could of killed us! Did you have any idea what you were doing?"  
"Stop it Hunter!" Tori said sharply. A moment of silence followed. "Alexis got you here didn't she? And your both alive and alright, while she looks ready to pass out, so instead of trying to kill her, maybe you could let go off your stupid pride and work together." Tori finished her rant and moved to held Alexis up. Hunter let out a small hump as the blonde-girl helped her cousin up. He turned back to Blake and helped him up. Blake was slightly surprised to find his strength was returning rapidly. The group members were all regaining there bearings when they heard a sound from Alexis. Just two words, but enough to set them all on edge.  
"Oh crap."

**A/N- chapter 11, many thanks to dandelion657, xxsakurarokzxx, nikki500, verra, Sonny01, Taeniaea, SydSue1206, butterflytinsel19, MYTHoLoGICAL LoVeR, puppydoyeyes23, readergirlreads, bookwormrdd, SnowDru, Bowling4real, Micpv1958, Pinkteddy96, Shades-Soul, Mangagirl97, dsi user, JasonLeeScottFan, and most importantly, White Fairy Writer.  
Seriously people, if you have ideas for monsters, I could use them.  
Yeah I know it's short, figured I'd post it as an early Christmas/Hanukah present  
Story behind Hunter and Alexis in either next chap or one after that.**


	12. Island Security

Five heads snapped to the direction Alexis had been looking. Over the tops of the trees was a long, thick thread of smoke. It looked like some sort of forest fire. Enough to alarm any other girl, but a fire ninja isn't a normal girl.

" 'Lexis...?" Tori questioned.

"Not that." Alexis said.

"Then what?"

"THAT!" Alexis screamed. Heads snapped back and this time caught the source of smoke. A giant ball of green fire seemed to be flying through the air. As you looked harder the ball took on a form, the form of a giant dragon to be exact. A giant dragon coming straight at them.

"MOVE" Shane yelled. Tori helped Alexis lunge out of the way of a giant fireball.

Hunter summoned a lightning bolt to hit the dragon. It threw it off balance for a moment and a second bolt sent it to the ground.

"Tori, extinguish that thing!" Blake called.

"Wait a sec." she replied and turned to her cousin. "Can you see if the fire will re-energize you?"

"I'll try." Alexis reached out her hand and began to absorb the heat from the inferno-animal. Only a few seconds later she clutched her stomach in pain.

"That green fire, it doesn't heal me, it makes me sick." Alexis managed to say before losing her lunch on the ground.

"Then we try something else." Shane said.

Before anyone could move, the dragon got up again and roared on it's hind legs, spitting the strange fire everywhere.

The rangers began to attack the beast with their respective elemental powers. They soon discovered that it did little good against it. Only Tori's attacks had a visible affect on it, but the green flames replenished themselves just as quickly.

"Ok, this is not working." Tori said.

"So I say we try a different tactic." Hunter replied.

"Ready?" Shane called

"Ready." the Thunder and Wind Ninjas replied.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"  
"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"

In a flash the four were fully morphed and ready.

"Alright, let's try this again." Tori exclaimed.

Blake and Hunter used their joint abilities to summon an even stronger lightning bolt. They knocked it out of its flight, and Shane sent it tumbling to to ground. Tori made it sink into the ground.

"Let's put 'em together." Hunter said

The thunder rangers combined their weapons into their blasters.

"Thunder Blaster"

The blast did what they had hoped. With a weak growl, it took off again to the sky and retreated.

"Alright!" Shane exclaimed. The rangers powered down.

"Let's get out of here before any more surprises come." Hunter suggested.

"New arrivals come to the center of the island." Alexis told them. "That's were we should go to get Danny and Dustin. And then..." she trailed off.

"An them we can look for the other residents." Tori finished.

"Wait, I thought evil ninja lived here, why would we want to find them? Shane asked.

Alexis inhaled. "When Danny told me he was going to be sent to Helicoid, he also said Josh was there too. If that's true, there's a chance I can get him back.

Silence followed, but they began moving. Tori helped Alexis along the way as they began to move towards the islands center. The only thing that was certain, was that this wasn't the last of the islands trials.

(Back at Ops)

Cam waited by the supercomputer for Lothors call. When it came, he waited a moment before answering it. When he did, Lothors sneering face came up on the monitor.  
"Well!" Lothor said, "Have you pathetic little rangers made your decision yet?"

"Please, they just need a little more time." Cam lied.

"HA! Time is something they don't have. Tell your pathetic friends that they'll never see the Yellow or Amber Rangers again." A laughing Lothor disappeared.

"Well, lesson for today, change phone number." Cam muttered sarcastically.

"Lothor is under the belief we are not aware of Danny and Dustin's situation. We must prepare ourselves should he attack before the others return." Sensei said.

"Right."

(Lothor's Ship)

"Hahaha!" Lothor bellowed. "Now that the rangers believe their comrades dead, I'll be able to takeover earth."

"Um, Uncle?" Marah asked timidly.

"What is it?" He demanded.

"Well... Kapri and I, were just kind of um, wondering, if the rangers are angry, doesn't that make them, like, stronger or something. The wholerage thing?"

"Hmmm, I didn't consider that." Lothor said, taking a seat. "How do we keep the rangers weak?"

"Sir, report." Zurgane entered.

"Can't it wait Zurgane, I'm busy." Lothor snarled.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, bit it would seem the rangers have left Earth sir. Our sensors detected them crossing through a cross-dimensional portal into Helicoid. While it's distressing to learn they have discovered our plot, it means we are free to take Earth." Zurgane said.

"Oh sure why not, just conquer Earth so when the Rangers return they can take it back, great plan Zurgane." Lothor retorted.

"Wait, wait-wait-wait." Kapri said suddenly. "If they get to Helicoid, doesn't that mean the farther they get in, the more they lose there morphing ability?"

Lothor looked at Kapri for a moment. He stared before smiling like the Cheshire cat. "I knew there was a reason I keep you around.

**A/N- Well, that was a quick update in my opinion. Many thanks to White Fairy Writer, who made sure I wote it, and dsi user, for the dragon made of flames idea. Actually, dsi user, THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH. I know I tweaked it a little bit, don't worry, that has a point.**

**Also, special thanks to**

**Orange Teddy**

**Lamoya smith**

**Taeniaea**

**CampbellSpartans2008**

**katara4494**

**Mangagirl97**

**One last thing, I figured the majority of you want another chapter reasonably soon, so can someone please set me a due date or something. Reasonable if you don't mind.**

**MERRY CRHISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH,**

**pinkchik08**


	13. Revealed at Last

_Volcano storm ch 13_

Danny and Dustin were brought before Lothor and his generals. The Kelzacks undid their bounds, and Dustin immediately took a fighting stance, but Danny moved to stop him.

"There are too many of them to fight. Our best chance is to see what they want, then try and get out of here." He said.

"I always knew you were the smart one of those fire-breathing circus acts." Lothor taunted. Danny glared at the space-ninja. Dustin saw his fists clench, but Danny remained quiet.

"Your friends have chosen to abandon you." Lothor began.

"Yeah, I doubt that." Dustin replied. Lothor sneered in annoyance.

"It looks like I'll have to extend my little surprise to the both of you." he said. With one last grin he spun and shot out a red light of some sort. The majority of his generals turned away from the brilliant light, Marah and Kapri screamed and hid behind Lothor's throne, and all the Earth and Fire Ninjas present could do was throw their arms in front of their eyes. The red began to shift and form a swirling cardinal-colored portal.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lothor taunted, "Step inside and win a prize."

Danny finally spoke to the villain. "You'll never win Lothor, good always beat evil."

Lothor rolled his eyes, "Don't you heroes ever think of any new catch phrases."

The last thing either boy remembered was falling through an abyss of red, before blacking out.

It had become dark on Helicoid, and the Rangers had stopped after hours of trekking through the island habitat, and made camp in a clearing. Alexis had started a fire, and Shane, Hunter and Tori had gone off to look for food, leaving Blake to look after the camp. When realizing the only companion was a Thunder, Alexis quickly opted to take a walk through the jungle, promising to stay close before Blake even looked up. Alexis had the feeling Blake's top priority wasn't her safety. She had been leaning against a fallen tree far enough away that she could just barely see the flow of the fire. She stayed close enough to make a run for it back to camp in case another of the Island's monsters made an appearance. The night air was warm and though she wasn't in any discomfort, she didn't like sitting in the dirt, and once again Alexis longed for the sandy beaches of Hawaii. She wanted to be taking a break from surfing and suntanning on a beach towel. Or to be sitting on the rocks at the base of an active volcano, right by the Academy entrance, shaking sand out of her shoes and laughing with her friends. She wanted to come home to the Academy after shopping with her girl-friends only to find her big brother waiting in her room, ready to lecture her about responsibility, which she would then just brush off and call Tori on the other side of the ocean. So lost in her daydreams, she didn't realize Tori had come up behind her until the water ninja was stepping over the log to join her cousin.

"You miss home, don't you?" Tori guessed. "The Volcano Academy."

"It's not just the Academy Tori." Alexis replied. "That was just a building. My friends, my teachers, the students, my brother, they're who I miss. They were my home."

Tori looked sympathetically at her cousin. "Look, 'Lexis I know what it's like to miss a sibling."

"It's different for you Tor." Alexis said angrily, getting up and turning away. "Alison is a state away. She's at college, you can call her whenever you want and Turtle Cove University is a days drive away, not a perilous journey requiring ancient scrolls and super-powers. You have NO idea what it's like to spend everyday thinking your older-brother, your only family, your BEST FRIEND is dead and knowing you killed him." Alexis kept her arms crossed and body facing away from Tori. A look of shame crossed Tori's face. She walked to her cousin, and opted to put a hand on her shoulder instead of hugging her.

"Hey." Tori said. "You have me now, I'm family too. And you're right, I don't know what your feeling, but I miss Josh too, and I'll help you do anything so we can bring him back. He isn't dead Alexis, and you just wait, we'll find him." Alexis turned and gave Tori a weak smile. It was then when Tori noticed what Hunter previously had, that Alexis's eyes were duller from their usual bright green, and had lost the little twinkle that had always been there. Alexis was never drop dead gorgeous, and she was still pretty like Tori, so it wasn't attractiveness she had lost, but it still seemed like she had lost something of her own being because of those eyes.

"Tell me something." Tori said.

"Something." Was the reply.

"Ha-Ha, I'm serious." Tori took the following silence as a sign to go on. "What exactly happened between you and Hunter?"

Alexis sighed heavily. She sat down on the log and patted the space next to her. "It's a _looooooong_ story, so you might as well get comfortable." She waited until Tori was seated to go on.

"It all started about two years ago. Josh, Danny, and me had all been called to Sensei Haruno's office. He told us our spy at the Thunder Academy reported that the Thunder Ninjas had gained access to incredible powers they would use to 'destroy' evil ninjas. We realized what he meant was that they had created their own Power Rangers. We, rather stupidly if you asked me now, assumed this meant they were going to attack the Volcano. We were sent to destroy the morphers. I would be going to classes and posing as a Sensei's daughter, since it was our spy posing as a Sensei. Josh and Danny would stay hidden, and were only there for back-up. I sometimes wish I had been back up instead, but since I was team leader I didn't really have a choice. My job was to earn the students trust, and have them tell me where the morphers were. I went into it confident but, it was a lot more challenging then I thought. All the kids there were, well, awesome, they were so nice and welcoming and funny, and then there was one of them..." Alexis trailed off.

"Hunter."

"Even then he was his brooding self, but not as much as he is now. He always made an effort to help me, and lord knows I needed it when I switched styles, and he never questioned why I didn't have Thunder abilities the way others did. He respected my privacy, and I really liked hanging out with him and Blake. I guess, me and Hunter starting to like each other on a, uh, deeper scale was just bound to happen." Here Alexis paused for a moment, reflecting on her feelings. Tori looked questioningly at her before she asked,

"So did you do it?" she asked.

Alexis laughed before looking back. "Do what Tor? I did a lot of things! One of those being, beginning to date Hunter."

"Sooooo, that explains the whole ex- girlfriend mess back at Ops."

"Yeah, guess it does. When Josh found out, he was furious. The way he was stomping around and lecturing, I thought the whole school would find us out. Finally I convinced him by saying it was for the mission, though he still wasn't that happy about it. I was actually pretty happy at the Thunder Academy. I mean, a great boyfriend, awesome friends, I got a pretty good deal. But then..." Alexis took a deep breath, "Hunter and I were hanging out. We were walking around, when he stopped and said he had something to show me. The next thing I know he's opening a secret hatch by the school and leading me down into an underground base. I figured out pretty quickly what it was. And then, he took out a box, and showed me the three morphers inside."

"Wait a sec, three? What happened to the...ohhhhh." Tori realized

Alexis looked solemnly ahead. "I told the others I had found the morphers. I had to, we had already been there for nearly five months, and we needed to get the mission finished. I still remember what exactly happened that night..."  
_  
____**Flashback**_

_Alexis stood by her bed, still as a rock for a moment. She could barely hear the boys preparing to carry out the mission right outside her bedroom. She had been holding the Thunder Ninja Uniform in her hands and she stood, then sighed and put it on the dresser, clean and folded neatly. It was the only semi-polite thing she could do._

_"Hurry up Scarlet." Josh said knocking on her door._

_"I'll be there soon Cobalt." Alexis responded. She pulled her Volcano Uniform out of her bag. Running her fingers up the distinct scarlet stripe, she thought of what the color stood for: Strength. Leadership. And Fire (of course). It was more than just a power source, it was an extension of her own self. Alexis scoffed at her own cheesy line. Her pointer lightly traced over the Volcano insignia. The Volcano was the only home she had known for thirteen years. She knew what others said about it, and she knew she couldn't just fail them because her own personal feelings had gotten in the way, they had trusted her with the Scarlet morpher, so like it or not, she was going to finish this._

___"Scarlet, if you are not dressed, and out here with your bags in two minutes, I will-"_

___"OKAY, Danny, I'm coming!" Alexis interrupted. She hurriedly dressed and felt a familiar energy surge when she put her morpher on her wrist. She threw her remaining stuff into a bag and entered the living room. A second later her final bag was taken away by a cobalt-colored breeze. Alexis rolled her eyes at Josh's way of getting their stuff to the awaiting transport. Currently, the plan was for the three Rangers too carry out the mission, then meet Sensei J at the helicopter that would take them out of there. If there weren't any difficulties, they would be gone before the Thunders even noticed. J was already gone, and Josh was back within a few minutes. Alexis looked at the clock, it read five minutes until one. If they were going to move, it had to be now. They quickly moved through the hallways of the building and jumped from the window. They found themselves at the side of the building. They would have to go slowly from here on. The Rangers crept slowly and quietly, trying to blend with the night-time surroundings. Alexis didn't think the streaks of color were enough to be noticeable. They were inching their way between bushes of the main grounds when Danny stopped._

___"Somethings wrong." He barley breathed._

___"Dan?" Josh questioned._

___"Co.. Wait, they know we're here! They set an alarm."_

___"How can you.." Alexis was cut off by a screeching siren. The Academy alarm!_

___"Whats going on?" Numerous voices called. The Volcano Rangers could see lights go on and boarding students begin to head down stairs to the main grounds where they were. Panic began to set into Alexis._

___"Scarlet, go finish the mission. Danny and I will keep the students busy." Josh said._

___Alexis could only nod and take off towards the underground base. She could just hear Josh and Danny as she left._

___"Ready for this, Cobalt?"_

___"Danny, I was born ready."_

___"Volcano Storm, Ranger Form, HA!" Alexis could tell two Cobalt and Amber color rangers were standing back there. She reached the entrance. Locked._

_"Of course it's locked." she muttered. No longer caring for stealth, she summoned a fire ball, broke the lock off, and descended into the base. She had lost time, and had to hurry. She found the box containing the morphers. She forced herself to open the lid, and found the the three morphers, exactly like the Volcano morphers when she got hers. She picked up the Gold morpher first. Suddenly, a screen flashed on. She saw what the Gold ranger would look like. It was a darkish version of the color, with black too. And next to the ranger was a picture of the student who was currently planned to receive the powers. Alexis recognized her as a graduating student named Le Ann. She was Omino's daughter, and actually, a really nice girl. It only took a moment for Alexis too piece together the other Rangers, and sure enough, Blake's image came up next to the Navy Ranger, and finally the Crimson Ranger appeared next to Hunters image. Alexis's grip tightened at the realization of what she was doing on a smaller scale. The metal of the morpher poked into her skin, and she looked back at her fist._

___Alexis made her decision._

___Pressing her mouth into a tight line, Alexis swept her hand around the room, sending fire through room. The computer and hardware exploded, ancient texts were ablaze and probably lost forever, and all the plans were turned to ash. To say the least, the Thunders wouldn't be able to build any more morphers. She then looked at her hand. Igniting a fireball in her hand, she watched as the morpher either fried or was destroyed in small explosions. She tried to keep her face neutral as she dropped the ruined thing to the ground. She had just picked up the Navy morpher when something caught her eye. Two doors of too the side, one reading Armory, the other said Zord. She was about to go see them when she heard the footsteps behind her._

___Panic set into Alexis. she realized she had been too loud, and the Thunder ninjas probably came with an advantage over her. Then she heard the one voice she didn't want to hear the most._

___"Alexis?" Hunters disbelieving voice said. Alexis turned to see him with only Blake behind him. When his eyes widened further she knew it was because he was looking at the Volcano insignia on her uniform. She could only remain quiet as he looked around the room at all the destruction she had caused. Finally, his eyes focused on the morpher in her hands. His face filled with anger as he looked at her._

___"You're a Volcano Ninja!" He accused._

___Alexis looked at him, then the morpher, then him again._

___"Aww, screw it." she said, dropped the morpher, and streaked out of there before either brother could move._

___She found a mess on the main grounds. The cobalt and amber rangers were each fighting numerous ninjas at a time. A few looked up to see that their friend was the enemy, and the shock was enough to let the Volcanos knock some of their opponents down. Others got over it much quicker, and attacked Alexis. Since there were very few boarding students, and Alexis had far more training, she managed to hold her own against them. The sudden change in air-flow had her look up to realize Sensei J was there with the helicopter. It was time to go. Most of the Thunders shied away at the thing and it got close enough for Danny and Josh to ninja jump in. Before Alexis could make her way over, a crimson bolt of lightning almost hit it. The copter jerked back into the air, and Alexis turned around to gape at Hunter._

___"You can make lightning." She said stupidly._

___"Guess your not the only one with secrets." he smirked._

___Annoyance flared up in Alexis. "Maybe so, but I still have a few tricsk up my sleeve." Pivoting to face the students, she raised her hand and a wild fire spread rapidly. The initial panic distracted the students, and Alexis made a dash for the building. She could here thunder clouds rolling in to quench the flames. Leaping onto the roof, she saw the helicopter release a rope ladder. She would have to make a jump for it. It started to pour from overhead. She started to make her way across the roof when she sensed a presence behind her._

___"Why Alexis?" Hunter yelled over the brewing storm. Alexis turned her head over her shoulder, and there he was. Hunter was drenched, and she most likely looked the same. "Why did you betray us?"_

___"We both know that I was never one of you."_

___"So did you lie about everything?" He asked as approached her slowly._

___Alexis was still for a moment. She didn't know how to answer him. Finally, she decided to just end this. "I have a mission Hunter. I need to complete it." she spun and kicked Hunter in the gut. He stumbled back a few feet before regaining his balance._

___Unfortunately, at that same time Blake arrived with two sick-looking blaster. If she didn't leave soon she was done._

___"And no, not everything." She shouted to him, and took off over the roof to the copter. She got to the edge and leaped. It should have been a smooth trip, until she felt the unbearable burning in her calf._

___She flailed through the air, and just managed to grab onto the last rung with one hand. She could hear Josh screaming over her, smell the fires below and her own burning flesh, and she could twist to know that Blake had his blaster pointed too her and hit her straight in the leg._

___Her eyes landed in Hunter, with his blaster pointed, but his eyes staring straight into her. Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to look away._

___Hunter pulled the blaster to eye level, and terror clenched Alexis in its iron grip. Then, the feel of the rain, the sound of Josh's screaming all subsided as Hunter pointed, fired..._

___And missed._

___The blast sailed clear past Alexis. The world rushed back into focus as the rope ladder jerked up and Josh screamed at her. She could only look sadly at Hunter while Danny and Josh pulled her up into the helicopter. Soon they were far away, and the Academy had disappeared from sight. Alexis was silent as Josh tended to her wound. One thought pounded and repeated in her head. Hunter had fired on her. And Hunter missed her..._on purpose.

**A/N- well, there you go chapter 13. first of all, if anyone is confused about Tori's sister Alison, I made her up because one episode of Ninja storm(i think its called down and dirty or something) Tori clearly states she has a sister, thus making Alexis and Josh have a second cousin, ect. Anyway, finally, the deal behind Hunter and Alexis is revealed, it took me long enough, I hope you all are satisfied.**

**Special thanks to**

**CampbellSpartan2008**

**Lamoya smith**

**Shievi**

**zookster**

**fluteprincess95**

**razmend**

**meggie21**

**BluePinkRanger**

**dsi user( honestly, I dont care if you have an account or not, but it'd be so much easier for you to continue reading if you did)**

**And thanks Write Fairy Writer for beta'ing the chapter**


	14. Chapter 14

_Volcano storm chapter 14_

Hunter and Shane had kept gathering food when Tori left. The island vegetation provided plenty of fruits ad berries to be gathered.

"Dude, I don't know about you, bit this place freaks me out." Shane said.

"I hear you. As soon as we get Dustin back we should get out of here."

Shane looked at Hunter. "Dustin, and Danny, right?"

Hunter acted as his brooding self and turned away. Shane raised and dropped his hands in annoyance. "Man, what's with you. Ever since you saw the guy you've given nothing but grief to to Alexis and him. I get you don't like him, but he seems cool to me."

"Look, you don't get it."

"Well then, could you explain, because I'm lost."

Hunter took a deep breath. "Around a year ago, Alexis infiltrated Thunder Academy as a spy. She was good, to say the least. She tricked and charmed her way through. We trusted her, and she lied to us. I trusted her. And she pretended to like me. Like, like me like me. Point being, I asked her out, we started dating, and she tricked me into showing her to the Thunder Ninja Ops. That night, she appeared with Danny and Josh. Danny and Josh both morphed and attacked the students to create a diversion, and I found Alexis destroying the Thunder Academy Ninja Ops. There was so much that she destroyed. Stuff we can never get back. She ended up making a break for it. Blake and I tried to stop her, but she tricked me again. They got away." Hunter paused a moment, his fists clenching viciously, and finally turned his head back to Shane. "Alexis Hanson is the reason the Thunder Academy couldn't defeat Lothor when he attacked a few months later."

An eternity seemed to pass before there was any sound again.

Blake sat bored near the campfire. After hours of walking on the giant island, they had found a suitable place to set up camp. He was annoyed when Tori, Hunter, and Shane had left in search of dinner and left Alexis as his only companion. He was glad when the redhead decided to go off on her own. He could just barely see her somewhere off in the distance. Her fiery head made her just visible.  
Blake had liked Alexis, back when they were at the Thunder Academy. Most of the kids had. She was well, likable. She was apparently Sensei Sato's, the ninja history teachers, step-daughter. She was always where the action was, contagious energy, always ready to make witty comment, got along with everyone, just a little behind on the whole Thunder power thing.

When you thought about it, Alexis and Tori were alot alike. Both were dedicated, stubborn, and pissing them off was a suicide mission. But Blake had never felt about Alexis they way he felt about Tori. Tori was just so ...perfect.

He admitted, he was in deep for the water-ninja. Ever since they first met, he was taken with her. She had been kind to them, and when they had returned she was the first to accept them again. He loved how he could talk to her about anything, how she laughed, how she got a thrill when she saw the perfect wave. Okay, he'd admit it. He had fallen for her hard. The other guys teased him mercilessly. He was trying to work up the courage to tell her.  
As he was thinking this, Tori herself emerged back from food- gathering.  
"Hey." she said, startling Blake.  
"Hey." he replied.  
"Hey, where's Alexis?" she asked. Blake waved his hand in the direction Alexis has gone off. Tori nodded in understanding. "This island is upsetting her. If she can't find her brother here... Well, you can kind of relate."

"What do you mean?"

"The whole brother thing. You know what it's like to care for someone that much, right?"

"I guess." Blake mumbled. From the corner of his eye he saw Tori look awkwardly away and brush her hair behind her ear.

"So what about you?" he asked. "How do you feel about being here?"

"Well, I'll feel a lot better once we get off it." Tori offered with a smile.

They sat on silence for a few minutes, staring into the fire, occasionally, discreetly, glancing at one another.

"I'm gonna go check on Alexis." Tori said.

"Stay safe." Blake warned with a start as Tori walked towards the fire girl.

(Lothor's ship)  
"Ash-a-Trops." Lothor called into his presence. The lava-spurting monster said something that sounded like a wail.

"Ugh, Uncle, why can't you have like, brought a monster that speaks English, like the rest of them." Kapri complained.

"Silence. Why care about talking when you can simply crush your enemies." Lothor smiled. Ash-a-Trops seemed to agree. "Now listen up, I want you two and Ash-a-Trops to go to Helicoid. When those rangers lose the ability to morph, crush them."

"Uncle, just one slight problem with that," Karpi pointed out. "How are we supposed to work with a guy we can't even understand?"

Lothor sighed in annoyance. He took out his PAM, pressed a few buttons and pointed it at the monster.

"Aw right, let's heat things up. Whoa, I'm talking English!"

"Ch, yeah, not very good English." Marah said to Kapri. Lothor glared. "Are you gonna be picky, or should I make you speak dog?" Marah shut up.

"Now hurry up. I want the rangers crushed as soon as possible." Lothor left.

Ash-a-Trops opened a new portal. "Well, hurry it up, we gots to go."

"Uh, yeah, would you give us a sec." Kapri said and pulled Marah closer so they could whisper.

"Ideas?"

"Me? Kapri, you're the smart one, think of something."

"I guess we have to go."

"But, like, destroying the rangers so isn't our thing." Marah said.

Kapri looked nervously towards te impatient monster. "Look let's just go, we'll think of something later." And go they did.

**A/N- yeah, I know, short. Thanks to everyone who's bearing with me through this story. And everyone should thank White Fairy Writer, the real reason this chap is here. Please Review!******

**Special thanks too****  
****Starpower21****  
****Yob3****  
****RAMBO112****  
****dsi user****  
****automech1989****  
****NYCSIKatarinaMesser****  
****LittleGirlVixen****  
****synismysin****  
****dream lightning****  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Volcano storm chapter 15

"Wooaaaahhhh!" Dustin and Danny screamed as they fell to the ground. They landed on their stomachs with a grunt and moaned.

"Aww man,that bit hard." Dustin complained.

"I hear ya man." was Danny's reply.

At that time both of them realized that movement and noise was surrounding them. When Danny looked up he thought he was hallucinating. They had appeared in the center of a small village. Men, women, and children were beginging to gather around the ninjas, and scattered around them layed huts and houses that made up the homes. The people were staring at them, but more from curiosity then surprise. Whispers rose to speaking rose to shouts, and as Dustin and Danny got to their feet someone was pushing through the crowd. When that someone got to the newcomers, he and Danny immedietly made eye contact.

"Danny." was all he could say.

Danny smiled brightly. "Cobalt."

—

The Power Rangers had settled in for the night, and most if them were sleeping. Hunter was awake, and sat watch. Shane had woken him about an hour ago, and Hunter would be on look out until the others woke up. Hunter knew that would be soon, the sun was already starting to appear at the far side of the island. He couldn't tell exacty how large the island was. They had started what he assumed was about a half a mile from the edge and went straight towards the center, which took hours, and as far as they'd gotten was still hours of walking. Hunter could see the group needed their rest to go further. Shane was now snoring away on the other side of camp. A few yards away was Alexis, who was dangerously close to the campfire. Tori and Blake, he noted, had somehow kept getting closer through the night, and the two were nearly cuddling, they were so cute. Hunter smile fondly. Tori was perfect for Blake. She could calm him when he got angry, comfort him when he was sad, and tell him when he was being stupid. 'Not to mention,' Hunter thought. ' Navy and blue look great together.' he laughed to himself.  
The sun was still rising. Hunter knew soon it would be time to wake the others so they could keep moving.

Suddenly he heard a pained groan. Alexis had rolled over in her sleep, her face contorted with pain. Hunter stood quickly and realized she was still deep asleep. But she kept moaning and mumbling, trapped in some kind of nightmare. Instinct took over, he moved to her side. He was shocked when some of the muttering became conprehensible.  
"Hunter...no." she began to pant. "Josh...Danny." she was sweating and straining.  
"Alexis." he said, hard but quiet. "Alexis, come on, wake up." He began to shake her gently, but Alexis wouldn't wake up. Her breathe became shorter, and grabbing her wrist he realized from the pulse her heart was pulsating a mile a minute. Hunter was worried.  
"'Lexis please, wake up!" he nearly begged.  
And she did.  
All of a sudden, her eyes flew open. Green eyes met hazel. Hunter hadn't thought of how his face got so close to her he could feel her breath on his skin. He could see the unshed tears that had began to pool in hebeyes as she slept. But he couldn't look away from her eyes.  
"Hunter" Alexis breathed in surprise. But they both began to move closer.

Until they saw a red beam shoot from the sky and hit the island a few miles away from them.

Both of them were up in a second.

"What was that?" Hunter asked.

"That must be new prisoners arriving on the island." Alexis guessed. "Probably Dustin and Danny."

Alexis was conflicted on her feelings. She was so happy and excited and anxious to see Dustin and Danny again, but at the same time, she cursed them for ruining her moment with Hunter. And she was confused at exaclty WHY she wanted to kiss Hunter so badly.

They quickly woke the others and explained the beam. Soon the rangers were moving again.

'Don't worry guys, we'll see you soon.' they all thought.

A/N- yeah I know, short chapter but hey, give a girl a break. Exists because of the ever-so-insistant-and-slightly-impatient White Fairy Writer. JK-love ya all  
Special Thanks to  
iMomentz  
Lamoya smith  
dsi user ()  
HunterBradley  
O and does anybody know what Hunters actual eye color is? I made up the hazel thing.  
This is probably the last chapter for a few weeks. I have exams to focus on  
Read and Review PLEASE! They make me so happy.


	16. Island Inhabitants

Volcano Storm ch 16

The rangers streaked through the forest. Hunter and Alexis had woke them up and told them the story of the beam of light. They had quickly taken off for the center of the island.

Hunter led at the front of the pack, staying as far away from Alexis as he could. His brother had sensed something wrong and moved to his side.

Alexis, despite possibly being the person most eager to get to their destination, kept to the back, as far from Hunter as she could. Their interaction had scared her. She had never expected to wake up like that. And everything after had just been instinct. Part of her was glad that moment never happened, but part of her wasn't.  
Tori seemed to know something was wrong with Alexis. She had moved so she was next to her, but didn't send any looks or try to pry. She knew Alexis well enough to know it would do no good.

Poor Shane could tell something was up, but didn't know what to do. He stuck in the middle and tried to keep his group together. He knew this would be when Dustin would sy something clever. They needed to get their friends back.

They were close to their destination when the ground under their feet blew up.

Flying through the air, Blake had just enough time to remember to land on his feet. Landing in a crouch, he was the only of the group to land on their feet. Hunter, Shane, Tori, and Alexis were all picking themselves off the ground, and the ground where they were was charred and smoking. Alexis grumbled and muttered a curse as she stood.

"Language, Lex." Tori said.

"What the heck was that?" she said again when she was fully standing.

"Hey guys, I think our friend the dragon is back." Shane told them.

Above, the emerald-colored dragon that had welcomed them was flying straight towards them. Alexis swore again.

"Language." she was told again.

"Alright guys. Let's take this thing out."

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!"  
"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!"  
"Volcano Storm, Ranger Form!"

Nothing happened. Another swear from Alexis. No one bothered to correct her.

"Move it." Hunter told the group to avoid another fire ball.

"Okay, so we can't morph, a giant-ticked off, sick-colored dragon made of fire is attacking us and we still don't have Dustin and Danny with us. Suggestions?" Shane summarized.

"What happened to our ranger powers?" Alexis said.

Tori ignored her friends. Something in the back of her mind was telling her what to do, and she didn't know why, but she went with it. Standing she summoned her powers of water, and sent a huge jet of water at the creature. Unlike before, the water easily pushed the dragon back and put out it's flames. Under the flames, the scales were an ugly puke-color.

Alexis grasped her forehead as a new, foreign sensation came over her.

Even though Tori's attack was strong, the dragon pulled itself back up and reignited.

"Guys, try your elemental abilities." Tori instructed them.

"Wait." Alexis said softly, still rubbing her head.

But they didn't wait. Water, Thunder, and Air all started launching attacks, and quickly discovered their powers were far more effective than before.

The green dragon was obviously taking a beating, but it somehow came up with the strength for one last attack. With a ferocious growl, it sent fire out of it's mouth in an inferno, knocking the four ninja in it's path down. It began towards them, and then Alexis got involved.

"Hey! You like fire, try mine." she sent a stream of scarlet flames at the dragon, who matched them with it's own. It became a test of will, and neither one gained the upper hand. But it wasn't Alexis who made the next move.  
"Power of Fire!"  
"Power of Earth!"

Earth and fire came rushing at the dragon. The ground itself launched it into the air, and it got a face-full of amber-tinted fire. Choosing to leave before it's enemies could regroup and become even stronger, the dragon once again took off to the air. The ninjas looked up, to see Danny and Dustin.

Next came the reunion. Alexis ran and practically glomped Danny, jumping and hugging him tightly. Tori was the first to reach Dustin, also giving him a hug. The other guys joined them. They all high fives Dustin, and Shane to Danny. Alexis fist bumped Dustin and Tori gave Danny a hug.

"I'm so glad you guys are ok." she told them.

"Yeah, you had us worried." Blake added.

"About us? We're flattered." Dustin joked.

They quickly caught the two boys up on what was going on. Danny and Dustin were about to return the favor when Alexis noticed something.

"Um, who's that?" she asked and pointed. Hiding part ways behind a tree was a little kid.

"Oh that's Tana. Hey Tana come over here." Dustin said. The girl came came out and before them, sticking to right in between Dustin and Danny.

"Tana, these are our friends. Guys, this Tana. She's the one that told us you were in trouble."

"What's she doing on Helicoid?" Shane asked.

"Oh right, well, it's kinda easier to show you." Danny said.

So they started leading them back to the center. Tana led the way easily moving through the forest. Soon they began passing huts. More people came into view, watching the strange party. None of the people wore shoes, all the girls had chopped short hair, and shirts were few among the boys.

Hunter couldn't help but notice every young person he saw. Tana, who wasn't even developed, couldn't of been sent here.

The group stopped at what must of been the center of the village. Huts were all around, and in scattered fire places people prepared food.

"What the heck is this place?" Alexis asked, looking around.

Hunter looked at the largest hut there was. It was on the edge of this circle and it just felt important. He saw the animal pelt that served as a curtain in the door way be lifted away.

Alexis couldn't of gasped louder. Her eyes locked with the person who came from the hut. She launched herself forward and into their arms. She began to cry as she found her words.

"Josh." she said hugging him.

**A/N- well, that chapter was a piece of crap. I wrote it in a hurry because starting tomorrow I have a bet with my sister beginning and I can't use electronics. Just for people to know, in chapter thirteen the name of the Sensei will be changed. Sorry the last chapter wasn't a chapter. Sorry it's short and crappy and for taking so long******

**Special thanks to****  
****Dsi user(btw I wouldn't of guessed you were so young)****  
****HunterBradley( thanks for the correction, and you'll just have to see)****  
****Taeniaea(PS Im glad:))****  
****Lamoya smith****  
****CamaroDude1989****  
****my new Anonymous reviewer**

**And of course Whute Fairy Writer, as always****  
**


	17. Everything's Explained

Volcano Storm ch 17

Blake watched the reunion taking place. Alexis was near-sobbing as she hugged her brother tightly. Josh was smiling as he held her tightly. They stayed that way for a while, before Alexis pulled herself back and looked at her brother. Soft words that Blake couldn't make out passed between the two, until Tori made her way to her cousins. Josh quickly pulled her in for a hug, with Alexis joining them in the family reunion. Blake caught Alexis smiling with a grin he hadn't seen in a long time. In fact the first time he'd seen it, the grin that let you know she was truly and completely happy, it was to his brother. Speaking of which.

Hunter was looking over the Hanson family. He was keeping his eyes stoic and face stony, but Blake knew his brother well enough to know he was hiding his emotions. Blake knew something had happened last night between Hunter and Alexis, he could feel. But Lord knows Hunter wouldn't easily tell him.

Tori was shocked. She had thought her older cousin was dead. Sure, she felt hopeful when they knew about the chance Josh had survived on Helicoid. But she didn't really, truly believe it until she saw him emerge from that hut. She was so stunned she could only watch as Alexis took off into her brothers arms. When she finally snapped back to reality, she went to her cousin quickly as she could. Josh smiled and graciously opened his arms to hug her just as tightly. She hugged him back with all her strength, before they opened the hug to Alexis.

As for Alexis, so many emotions were running through her, but all of them faded into a background buzz when she hugged Josh. He was back, her brother, her best friend. He was alive, he was here, he was hugging her, she was seeing him She knew she had begun to cry. Funny, she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. She finally pulled away from him and spoke quietly, still radiating happiness.

"Ohmuhgod, you're here." she said.

"I'm here Alexis." he confrimed.

"I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, baby sis."

"I'm not a baby." she said on default.

He smiled and looked up to see Tori. "Heya cuz."

"You are a horrible person." Tori said when they hugged. "Making us all as worried as we were."

"Worried, about me? I'm honored." Josh replied.

Alexis laughed as she joined her family. Together again. She had never thought it would happen.

Josh pulled away and smiled warmly at Shane, until he saw Hunter and Dustin. His smile immediately turned into a scowl.

"Thunders." he said with disdain.

"Hey, it's okay, they're with us." Tori tried to explain.

"Oh yeah, he knows." Dustin said. The company looked at him. "We didn't want him to freak or anything when he found out they were with us."

"For the record, that doesn't mean I like them being here." Josh added.

"For the record, we don't particularly enjoy being here." Blake retorted.

"Both of you that's enough." Tori said before any argument could escalate. Josh looked at her before rolling his eyes and nodding. He threw one last glare at the Bradleys.

"Why don't you all come in? We have a lot to talk about."

Josh's hut was larger than any other hut in the makeshift village. The front part was an open room, with animal pelts serving as rugs spread all over the floor. The only real furniture was a low table in the middle with a few cushions surrounding it. A small fire pit was off to the side, but due to the heat of the day, unlit. Hatches in the wall made it so sunlight poured inside. A wall closed off the back area, with a curtain leading into it. Josh led them in then turned to say something quietly to one of the other village members.

The eight ninja sat around the table, with Josh at the head, Alexis right next to him. Tori was on his right, and Danny was next to Alexis. Shane sat next to Tori, and on the other side of the table was the Bradley brothers, as far from Josh as possible. Dustin was next to Danny.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Josh began.

"You've got that right." Shane commented.

"By now, I'm guessing you've figured out what happened to me personally." Josh continued.

"Lothor sent you here." Tori said, "to get rid of you. And he made everyone think you were dead."

"Why does it sound so simple when she says it?" Alexis grumbled jokingly. Josh smiled and put his arm around her shoulders.

"But I guess this place seems weird to all of you." he finished.

"Weird? Try freakish. What exactly is this village? Why are there kids here? What's with the dragon who attacked us? And why can't we morph?" Hunter asked, sounding just a bit accusing.

Josh looked at Hunter with contempt. "Most people call it jigoku no mura. As for it's inhabitants, well, most people get here and realize there's no way out, so they move on with life. People here made homes, families, though I feel terrible for every kid born here. That dragon is one of many...creatures, that inhabit the island. For the most part they leave the village alone, but anyone who wonders to far has to be careful to avoid them. Nasty things." Josh explained. He it sink in for a moment.

"Kids.." Blake muttered to himself.

"But you never explained what was wrong with out morphers." Hunter said after a moment. More glaring from both the eldest Thunder and Fire ninja.

"Nothing is wrong with your morphers. But when you get near the center of the island, the connection to the morphing grid is cut off."

"So we can't morph, great."

"But there's an upside too." Danny added.

"Yeah, even though you lose your morphing powers, your ninja powers are like, way more intense." Dustin said.

"So that explains Tori's awesome moves against that dragon." Blake said. Tori blushed, and Alexis's smile faltered. Feeling her tense, Josh looked at her.

"You okay?" he whispered into her ear. She shrugged in the way that said, 'I'll-tell-you-later.'

"Hey Josh, are you in charge around here or something?" Shane questioned.

"Yeah, what made you the head-honcho?" Tori asked.

"You see, when I got here, no one worked together well. The village didn't really exist, just a bunch of huts spread out, far from each other. Monster attacks were way for frequent. And it was basically every family for themselves, unless you got here and allied with one of them. I just kinda helped the people work things out, and learn to work together. In return, I'm kinda just in charge of keeping the people. Any big decisions are made by a group, but with such a plain life style, there's really never anything to decide." Josh explained.

A call rang out before anyone said something. It was loud, and accompanied by banging drums.

"That means the food for the evening has been prepared. Come on, I bet your all hungry. Afterward, you should get some rest. You've had a long day." Josh said.

Dinner turned out to be a large event. A bunch of woman worked together to prepare a meal from whatever the hunters had. Everyone showed up and got something. Turns out, as long as you help in some way, you get to eat. The job of most the children was to clean after the meal was over. Josh was a hunter most of the time.

Later, they all returned to his home to get some sleep. Blankets and makeshift mattresses were brought for the boys. The back part of Josh's house was a bedroom, with a large mattress and small bench that resembled a couch. He insisted Tori and Alexis have the bed, and he would sleep on the couch. Since it was family, there was no issues.

When they all said goodnight, the three Hansons disappeared behind the curain. They were careful to keep voices low.

"Ok, who wants to tell me why a Thunder Ninja is hittting on my cousin?" Josh questioned. The girls both smiled.

"Her problem, not mine." Alexis pointed.

"Hey, I am not the one with something against them, you two are. Besides..." she even looked guilty.

"She really likes Blake." Alexis explained. Josh muttered something.

"Look, I'm just asking you to not kill them." Tori said. "And if you could be bothered, try and work together."

Josh looked at Alexis. "And are you okay?"

"Josh.."

"I'm serious Alexis. I don't want anything happening because these guys are around. You know what happened last time."

"Yes, I know, I was an idiot and I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Alexis said exasperated. Tori looked between her two cousins.

"Would anyone mind explaining that story to me. I mean, I know I agreed to not talk about it, but now that I know it was at the Thunder and you fell for _Hunter, _not to mention if you two keep bringing it up, I'd really like to know."

"Fine, in a second." Josh said, "Lex, what was up with you earlier? You got all weird when that dragon came up."

'I noticed that too."

Alexis sighed. "It's just that, when we were fighting it, I got this weird feel from it. I don't know how, but I could just tell. I think it was in pain."

"Pain?"

"I know it's crazy, but I'm serious. I think something might be up with it." Alexis defended herself.

"Hmm." from Josh. "Whatever is up with that green thing, we'll have to deal with it later. So, Tori, you wanted the story."

Alexis mostly stayed quiet as Josh explained what went down, adding in every now and then, even though it was her story. After they did that, the three went to bed. At least Alexis tried.

**A/N- Sup everyone! New chapter, really just fill in the blank thing going on with it though. More of Lothor and the girls in the next chappy, I promise. And in case anyone was wondering about my bet, my dear sis basically called it off, so I guess I won.**

_**BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!**_

**On the seventh, it will be the two-year anniversary of this story. In honor of that, I'm posting the official prequel. If anyone has an idea for a title, that'd be cool. But just check my profile sometime on the seventh, and it should be up unless tragedy striked. Its about Alexis during her time at the Thunder Academy. So, I've rambled on long enough, hopefully, I'll post more of this one soon.**

**Special Thanks to**

**Jessfairy88**

**The Silver Magician of Chaos**

**selena( I honestly don't think I've ever had one person review so many times so, here's a cookie (::) )**

**HunterBradley(thanks)**

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu**

**LamoyaSmith vs blakeNtori( have I commented on how I love your name yet? I think I have)**

**AngelRose 15( aww thanks. I hope you find more PR fanfics that you enjoy)**


	18. Chapter 18

Volcano storm ch 18

"Ugh, why does it have to be, like, so disgusting here." Kapri complained while treading through the woods.

"Yeah, couldn't Uncle just have sent us some place with, like, less nature?" Marah grumbled.

"Do you ever not complain?" Ash-a-Trops asked them.

"Well," Kapri said insulted, "It's not our fault Uncle sent us so far from the Rangers."

"Hey, monster-thingy, do you even have a plan for attacking the Rangers yet?"

"Huh?" Ash-a-Trops stopped, "Oh, uh, nah, but I'm sure it'll be a piece a pie."

"Does he mean a piece of cake?" Marah whispered to her sister. Kapri shrugged, and turned her attention back to Ash-a-Trops

"You won't defeat them like that." Kapri warned with her hand on her hip. "You need a plan if your gonna beat those Rangers."

"Oh, well..." he looked around. All of a sudden, a beast charged out of the trees and into their path.

"AHH!" Marah screamed and shot some magic at it. It looked wounded for a moment, but dragged itself up.

The beast itself was a strange mix of magnificent and horrifying. It's silver and black patched fur glowed in the pale light of the moon. It's teeth were yellow, and dripping with red. Red eyes gazed at behind the threesome, and turning, they found more red eyes staring back through the trees.

"Uh, Marah, I think we're in trouble." Kapri said.

"Wait a min, I got an idea."

"Okay, I'm pretty sure it's 'wait a sec' or 'wait a _minute'."_

_**Meanwhile..**_

Alexis didn't know how long she lay awake before carefully pushing the covers away and getting up. Making sure, she hadn't woken Tori or Josh, she laid the covers as they were before silently making her way out of the hut. She saw Hunter, Blake, Shane, and Dustin sleeping quietly by the fire. Recalling years of ninja training, she made sure not too make a single sound as she crept through. Outside, the night air was cold, so crossing her arms, she made her way into the trees, going as far as she dared from the village. When she found a clearing in the trees, she tried to find stars above, but only a black emptiness met her gaze.

"Huh," she said aloud, "Right, magic floating island in the middle of another dimension. Course there are no stars."

"There's a moon though." A deeper voice replied. Alexis spun in shock to find Hunter behind her, leaning nonchalantly against a tree. He wasn't looking at her, rather his eyes were upward to the previously mentioned moon.

"Hunter.." she breathed. He finally looked at her. She bit her bottom lip. "I didn't know you were there."

"Believe it or not Alexis, the Volcano Academy isn't the only school that can produce good ninjas." he scoffed at her. He didn't take his eyes from hers, his words penetrating deep. She shrugged one shoulder softly.

"Guess I deserve that." she sighed.

"You deserve a lot more than that, after what you did. You betrayed the whole Thunder Academy, everyone there. You betrayed me,.."

"Stop using that word." Alexis interrupted. She ripped her eyes from his and turned away. "It wasn't betrayal. I was never on your side in the first place."

"Wasn't it? You earned our trust, and you betrayed it. You hurt everyone there. The students, the school, most of the guys were devastated when they found out you and Sensei J were spies."

"No offense Hunter, but I could care less about how most of the guys felt." Alexis retorted annoyed.

"Then what do you care about?" Hunter grabbed her shoulder and forced her too look at him again. She was startled by the sudden yet somehow expected aggression. He was once again looking at her with that deep, penetrating stare.

"I care about you." she breathed out. "I cared about how I hurt you, and the time we spent together, and the way you made me feel."

Hunter let her go, and it was his turn to look away. "Don't lie, Alexis. It's beneath even you."

She could only look at Hunter in awe for a moment before feeling her infamous temper flare. "Now hang on a sec." she said angrily. "Say shit about my school, talk down on Danny and Josh, heck, take as many shots at me as you want, but don't, you, DARE say my feelings for you weren't real."

Hunter huffed.

"I'm serious Hunter." This time it was Alexis who moved back into his view. "I do care about you."

"Then why'd you do it?" He replied just as hotly.

"The Academy is my _home,_ I had a loyalty to it above myself. You of all people should be able to understand that."

"Don't you dare use that against me." He warned darkly.

"Why don't you understand I'm not trying to be against you?" She cried at him. "I've never wanted to be against you!"

"Then honestly Alexis, what do you want?" he yelled back.

"I DON"T KNOW!" she screamed. There, it was out there in the open. One of her deep secrets, something she wouldn't admit to anyone. She calmed herself a bit. "I'm...confused, Hunter." The look she wore showed she was ashamed of herself for feeling such an emotion.

Hunter looked at her like she was missing the obvious. "Alexis, you don't always have to know the exact answer."

Alexis stared at him in disbelief. "Yes Hunter, _I do. _I always need to do the right thing; what's best for my school. Why do you think I could hate you and Blake when I came to Blue Bay Harbor? I had gotten so good at hating you...like I should."

"You're saying you hated us because it's what was best for your school?" Hunter asked astonished. Alexis looked down, registering what she had said. "What about what's best for _you_, Alexis?"

"What's best for the school _is_ what's best for me. That's what it means to be apart of the academy."

"Is that your head or your heart talking?" He asked, somehow acting coldly, yet not angrily.

Alexis moved her head up again and open her mouth to reply, but no sound came. She had the answer in her head. Somehow, she couldn't say it and feel completely sure.

"You don't know, do you?" Hunter pointed out, his face showing emotion, but unclear. What Alexis mostly saw was a sort of disappointment.

"No." She admitted. She pushed her fiery-red hair out of her face.

"Figure it out." Her mouth opened in slight surprise. She hadn't expected such a blunt, unsympathetic answer from him, though she probably should of.

_'That's why you fell for him, remember 'Lexis.' _her subconscious reminded her, _'he was one of the only men in your life who wouldn't sugar coat it.'_

Alexis took a deep breath. Now is when she should be thinking everything through carefully. Of course she did the opposite.

"I know I was able to make myself hate you and all the other Thunders again after I left because I knew it was what I should do. But somehow, after everything that happened, all these feelings I had for you have just come back, and now I don't know if I should be loyal to lessons, or my feelings."

"Right, those again." Hunter said in reference to her supposed feelings. "If it was real, it wasn't a fling."

"Don't Hunter," Alexis warned, her tone changing yet again, shifting to a darker side. "Don't you dare say you didn't care about me."

His darkness matched hers. "Even if I did, it's over. I've moved on."

"Really, pray tell, when?"

"I stopped caring about you as soon as I saw you in that wreckage." he answered plainly.

Alexis remembered his reaction perfectly. Disbelief, anger, sadness, had all been present when he and Blake found her destroying their Ops. She could have easily accepted it then and there if it hadn't been for one little detail.

"If that's true, why did you purposely miss me when you fired that blaster?" She said, giving him a look that said 'you're not fooling me'.

Hunter was shocked. How had she known he'd moved the blaster? She had been watching him fire it, but no way she could tell it wasn't aimed directly at her. A moment of silence passed between them, until Hunter, being Hunter, smirked as a response.

"So, you're saying I have perfect aim?"

"Oh LORD, Hunter!" Alexis cried in frustration. "Stop playing with me. Say you didn't have any real feelings for me, even after what happened."

"Well," Hunter resumed his nonchalant stance, gazing at the moon. "That's easy enough. I don't"

Alexis felt shocked to her core when Hunter said those words. But she had come this far. She wasn't leaving yet.

"Fine." she replied coolly.

"Fine?" Hunter looked at her in confusion. "You spend 15 minutes arguing with me, and then your just..fine?"

"Hunter, we both know your lying." And Alexis did. Even with everything going on in her life now, she was now, somehow, more sure than ever what she and Hunter had been real.

"I'm serious, Alexis."

"Then look at me when you say it."

Hunter looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "This is pointless." he mutters and turns to leave.

"Hmm" Alexis said, with what would be a smirk but with no emotion behind it. It made Hunter stop though. For another while, both just stood in silence, waiting for the other to make a move. Alexis took a deep breath.

_'What have I gotten myself into? How the heck did it come this far? I just didn't want him to think I used him and now...'_

"I'm tired of this. I did care about you Hunter, and some if not all of those feelings are still there, but I do not know how to handle this. I don't care what you say Hunter, as long as it's true. I need closure here. Enough trash about my school, or grief about my friends. How do you really feel about, not the school, not the uniform, not the moral, but _me,_ and just me?" Alexis braced herself for the worst. She asked him to be completely open with her. A favor she couldn't return, she couldn't even be honest with herself.

Hunter stood still for a moment almost ignoring her. After an eternity he spoke. "You are rash, stubborn, reckless, annoying, you confuse me, you're selfish, and I'm pretty sure at least a little mentally unstable." He finally turned to face the unsuspecting fire ninja.

"You have no respect for others." He took a step to her.

"You don't think how putting yourself in danger will affect everyone else." The distance between them grew smaller.

"Being around you makes me want to pull my hair out." He was now sanding in front of her.

"And since you arrived here I have tried to hate you like you obviously hated me, but for some stupid reason I fell for you, _again_, and I do still have feelings for you." With the last words he said the gap between their lips closed, and they both released their pent-up emotions into the passionate gesture.

**A/N- there you guys have it, Alexis and Hunter finally kiss. Will it last, will everything be okay now, will Josh accept it, will THEY accept it?...pssshhh, yeah right, I'M the author here. Since I'm a lot better at angst than romance, my friend helped me out, and she pointed out to me, I really abuse Alexis. And then White Fairy Writer pretty much confirmed it. Seriously, can the girl really not get a break, or are they exaggerating. Also, I'm kinda disappointed, the prequel didn't seem to get a lot of views. Its up people, and im actually rather proud of it. K so, everyone enjoying school? Cause it's keeping me from writing, and my siblings losing my main writing unit, but, oh well.**

**ALSO, too anyone with artistic talent, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to attempt to design a cover for the story? I hate it having my user icon. I'll accept any and all submissions, and if I get multiple ones, me and two others will look at them all and choose the best one. So, review or PM me if your interested in that.**

**So, special thanks too**

**Hunter Bradley**

**Abby0512x**

**CamaroDude1989**

**Malloryxoxome**

**DCLWLOKPR44424(OK SERIOUSLY, WHAT DOES THAT STAND FOR! I figured some of them out but im confused)**

**vanillapalmtrees**

**sk8erchick**

**Pharuhi13**

**Twistergirl14**

**Kara Peace**

**And, as always, White Fairy Writer, for beta'ing and being down right amazing.**


	19. Chapter 19

Volcano Storm ch 19

The kiss could of lasted for seconds, minutes, hours even. Alexis lost all sense of time and space until they eventually pulled away. His eyes stared into hers, seeing past any barriers she might try and put up, though he didn't need to. For once Alexis felt like letting someone in. She felt her heart beat begin to return to its normal tempo, though she didn't understand how considering her current position. His arms held her tightly, and she could feel his hot breath on her lips. She smiled, a genuine Alexis smile, before saying, "Gee, why don't you tell me how you really feel."

"I don't believe in lying to the people you care about." he stated simply.

"I think that's a lesson I could use." she replied. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against him.

He took a deep, content sigh. "Alexis I ..." he began.

Before Hunter could continue, the ground around him became ablaze with a fierce inferno. Alexis's head snapped up and looked around at the sudden flared circling around them. One flame leapt up and bit her ankle. She let out a cry and fell to grab the burn. "Alexis!" Hunter was about to kneel down to her when another flame flew between him and her, causing him to jump back.

The fire began to lower, but when Alexis looked to find the source, she found herself wishing for the flames again.

A few feet away stood Josh, with his hand raised, controlling the fires movement. The flames reflected in his eyes, his green iris' burning with anger and hatred. His glare was at both of them, but soon turned to Hunter alone, and seemed to darken more, if that was possible. "Get. Away. From. My. Sister."

The flames lowered to only a centimeter tall so his wish could be obeyed, yet Hunter did not move. Instead he turned to Josh, strength and defiance coming off him in waves.

It was a test of will, and neither planned on losing. "Alexis, get your ass away from that filthy Thunder." Josh instructed.

"Josh, please." Alexis begged.

"Don't!" he warned her darkly. "Just shut up."

"You can't talk to her like that." Hunter retorted.

"I think I can talk to her any way I want to, considering she is MY sister."

"That doesn't mean you own her."

"It just mean you have no right to be near her."

"Okay, both of you enough." Alexis tried to command but her voice was pleading. Both boys attention was turned to her.

"Alexis, get back to the hut, NOW." Josh told her.

"Are you kidding me? Alexis, you don't have to do anything." Hunter told her.

"I think listening to her older brother would be something she has to do." Josh said.

"I think an asshole who tries to control everyone else has to mind his own business."

"Alexis is my business, Thunder-head." he strode over and grabbed the still-kneeling Alexis by the arm, pulling her to her feet.

"She can think for herself." Hunter told him.

"Then why are you fighting this battle for her." Josh shot back.

"Hunter please." Alexis pleaded with the blonde. He looked at her with something she couldn't quite place, though it might have been disappointment, as Josh pulled her away. To make it look better she began walking beside her brother, trying to keep pace but having difficulty due to her reluctance and slightly charred ankle.

It seemed they had made a racket, because many of the villagers were looking out the doors or windows of their huts, only to wither back when they caught sight of their enraged leader. The rest of the power rangers had all gathered just out of Josh's hut. Pushing past them, he continually dragged her into the hut and to the back room, where he finally released her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"With me? You're the one who just set fire to a forest." she replied.

"Alexis, how could you? A Thunder ninja. Our sworn enemy. Our most hated rival. And your just going to let him play with your heart."

"He isn't playing Josh." she cried at him. "Why can't you accept we might actually like each other."

"You do not _like _him. Don't be naive. You're an enemy ninja, you betrayed his school, destroyed ancient, irreplaceable Thunder crap, and broke his heart, why on Earth would he ever like you?" Alexis fell silent when Josh said this.

Josh looked at her a moment, two, then sighed. "Look, 'Lexi, I'm mad at you yes, but don't get me wrong. I mean, this isn't your fault. Your just confused."

Alexis studied her brother for a moment. "You know what Josh, Hunter was right. I can think for myself."

Josh was shocked, to say the least. When he finally found his voice again he was seething. "What do you think this is, Romeo and Juliet. I thought you'd be smart enough to know nothing good can ever come from those. And I don't plan on being a Tybalt here and giving up myself in vain because of your petty little.."

"I'm not asking you to get involved, I DO NOT WANT YOU INVOLVED!" she yelled at him. "I want to live my life without all the rules and regulations and doing every little thing for something else, never myself."

"Do you have any idea how selfish you sound? Mom and Dad gave everything for the Volcano. And in the end, that included their lives. TO THUNDER NINJA!"

"Josh, we can't do this anymore. We can't blame many for the sins of few."

"You know, I'd agree, except this wasn't the first, only, or last attack Thunder Ninja have made on our kind. So yes, we can."

"NO WE CAN'T!" Alexis screamed walking toward her brother. " I'm tired ,Josh. Aren't you tired, of being bitter. Of carrying around all this hate , all the time!"

"Mom and Dad could do it. The people who raised and took care of us could do it. Our friends can do it. You're acting like being a Fire ninja is only about hating Thunder ninja."

"At the moment," Alexis said, "It's what I care about."

Josh continued to look at her like she was speaking blasphemy. "Scarlet, listen to yourself. You are going against everything you have ever known in your entire life."

"Josh.."

"No, listen to me. You have anger management problems, your favorite things to do are shopping and fighting, you live off a trust fund, and have the emotional maturity of a freaking 10-year old!"

Alexis through up her hands, "Is this Bash-on-Alexis Day or something?"

"Does he know anything about you besides your a fire ninja and you surf in your free time?" Josh asked.

"Well,..." she was interrupted.

"Does he realize he'd have a lot more issues than just me coming?"

"That's.."

"Good god Alexis, does he even know about your condition?"

"OF COURSE HE DOESN'T!" Alexis admitted. "Why would he? How could he?" She felt tears began to pool in her eyes for the second time that night. Damn, Josh was right. She has got to get her emotions in check.

Josh sat down on the bed, compassion beginning to re-enter his eyes. "And for this guy you wanna go against your older brother. Who has raised you nearly your entire life. You and me 'Lex, you're gonna let some thunder ninja get in the way of that?"

Alexis blinked back her tears, but unfortunately pushed a few out as she sat by her brother. "Josh," she began again, this time determined to finish. "you are my older brother. You are the closest, and in some senses only family I _really_ have. I love you more than any other person in the world. But I cannot spend my whole as some little, obedient Fire ninja."

Josh looked at her, before pulling her into a tight hug. "I love you too 'Lexis."

She sighed out her tears. "Why do the complicated things always happen to us?"

"It's in the genes."

Alexis smiled as she pulled away from her older brother, but frowned when she saw the serious look in his face. "What?"

"Scarlet, this doesn't change anything. You can change your life, but you can't try and date Hunter Bradley."

Alexis felt her face fall and heart break. "You can't tell me what to do."

"Yes I can, and as soon as we get off this island, you are never too see him again."

Alexis jumped to her feet. "I am the team leader, you _do not_ get to..."

"As the Scarlet Ranger you give commands to the Cobalt Ranger, but since your my little sister, and I'm still your legal guardian, your going to have to listen to me on this." Josh retorted.

"But.."

"Hey you two, break it up." said Danny as he arrived in the hut to separate the siblings. "I don't know what's been going on in here for the last 15 minutes, frankly I've probably figured it out, but we need you both outside, NOW." Trust Danny to settle their arguments.

The three Fire ninja ran outside to find villagers and rangers out with the breaking dawn.

"What's going on?" Josh asked.

"Tana saw them coming." some random person replied.

"Who's they?" but he didn't need a reply, because gathering on the edges of the village, were wild beasts of all kinds. And leading them was none other than Ash-A-Trops, Marah, and Kapri.

**A/N- DUH, DUH, DUUUUUUUUHHHHH. Hehehe. I'm very cruel. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I really dont have a lot to say for this chapter.**

**REMEMBER, IM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO IS WILLING TO PROVIDE A COVER FOR THIS STORY. PLEASE REVIEW OR PM IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS INTERESTED**

**Special thanks to**

**Twistergirl14**

**ninjaxman**

**trinaa95**

**kitten9322**

**Malloryxoxome**

**AngelRose15**

**Wildwindstar**

**HunterBradley**

**Credit18**

**StellaTori**

**and who could forget, White Fairy Writer, as always, who is just as persistant.**

**Later everyone!**


	20. Island Battle

Volcano Storm chapter 20

"We're toast." Alexis deadpanned.

"Not the time." Danny replied. "How many you do you think there are?"

"At least 50 of the Manlays." Josh observed.

"The what?" Shane asked.

"Those big, wolf-type creatures. They don't have any special powers but there speed and strength is incredible. They can cut a man in half with one bite."

"Oh." Shane replied. "That's very comforting."

"Hello Rangers!" Kapri's voice boomed. "Did you miss us?"

"Like a toothache." Blake grumble from behind.

"We be here, and we gonna destroy the place." Ash-a-Trops rumbled.

The eight Power Rangers exchanged glances, all positioning in preparation of combat.

"Alexis, Shane, you're the leaders here. It's your call." Josh told them. Alexis almost wanted to call him out on his views on leadership, but decided it was neither the time nor situation. She looked at Shane, and an unspoken understanding passed between the two.

"Is there any place that's safe for the people who can't fight?" Alexis questioned.

"Yeah, room underneath one of the huts."

"All right, get everyone too young or unable to fight in there." Shane ordered.

"Everyone else, spread out and surround the village." Alexis told them.

"Keep those things out." Shane finished.

The villagers did as they were told, with most of them quickly spreading across the village boundaries. When Tori surveyed the area, she felt thankful for how the huts were built close together. But she also noticed a rift going though the sisters, alien, and island creatures. She could sense them preparing to attack. She and the others moved to join the inhabitants on the out rims of the village.

"Ready?" Shane and Alexis both asked.

"Ready." She, along with Hunter, Blake, Dustin, and Danny all replied. It felt unnatural not morphing directly after wards, but she was going to have to rely solely on her ninja powers for this fight.

"ATTACK!" Kapri screamed to her monsters. Almost immedietly, Tori found herself being closed in on by three different Manlays. Raising her hands, she shot streams of water up, effectively knocking back the first two. She then ducked and rolled to avoid the third one's leaping attack. Snapping back to her feet, she hit the third with a roundhouse kick to knock it off its legs. She turned and continued her attack on the coming forces.

Danny found himself in a similar position to Tori. He was jetting out streams of fire at the oncoming beasts. Around him he sensed various ninja using the elements to fend of the beasts. From his calculations there were about 35 natives helping in this fight, against more than 50 Manlays, with a possibility of more coming, add the fact that it was hard to get them down for good. Their best advantage was they could reason whereas these animals were incapable. He flattened himself for the second it took for a Manlay to sail over him, taking out another that would of leaped for his head. He set the heap on fire, a trick that would work best if the burning party was out cold. For a brief moment he surveyed what he could in effort to catch a glimpse of his friends.

Dustin had officially seen it all. Become a superhero, check. Fight in a giant robot, check. Smack down with aliens, check. Go to a seemingly 'lost' island floating in a different dimension which serves as a super-ninja prison? Check. He hadn't noticed the course of the others, instead choosing to go right for the sisters staying back, behind the action. Ash-a-Trops had somehow become occupied, because he wasn't near the villains-in-training. It was unfortunate, that for all their whining and complaining, the duo had actual training, and was actually able to hold their own in a fight. Dustin and Kapri met with element attacks, head on, ice versus earth. After wards, she brandished her sword and began pushing back at Dustin. He heard behind him what sounded like Marah, fighting against who knows who. Trying to end things with the pink-haired, ice-queen, he stomped his foot to send a bulge of earth, effectively knocking Kapri off her feet. He was just about to make a sarcastic remark when he was knocked to the ground. Above him stood the ugliest creature in existence. The Manlay stared down at him. Dustin became aware there was no trick in his ninja-database could get a creature of this weight of him. The Manlay opened it jaws, leaning down for the kill.

Dustin needed an extra second to process the Manlay had been blasted off him. It took a literal second for some invisible force to push the thing from its place over an at-time immobile Dustin. He jumped up from his position to see a teenager dressed in orange, holding out her staff that served as her smoking gun. She barely looked him in the eye for a second, but it was a long second to them both.

"Marah?" he asked confused at her actions. But, unlike normal, the younger sister composed her face like a mask, impossible for anybody to read any emotion off of. She had moved quickly to her knocked-down sister, helping the ice-ninja to her feet. She seemed about to turn back to him, but Kapri grabbed her by the forearm, and said something too quiet for Dustin to here. Before he could do anything about it, both girls disappeared into the forest.

"Man, these things just don't stay down." Hunter, remarked, after knocking out the same Manlay 5 times.

"Your telling me. They must of originally been some sort of defense system for the island." Shane replied as he blew back another animal." The boys continued fighting for a while before Shane spoke again.

"So, whats the deal with you and Alexis?"

"Dude, now really isn't the time."

"I'm serious. What happened when you snuck out?"

"You mean besides her brother bursting into the picture and spreading his wrath by nearly setting the forest on fire."

"Aww, dude, what'd he do to you? He seemed pretty pissed when he got back." Shane said as he quickly leaped from one tree to another.

"I'm more pissed because of what he did to Alexis. It's like he controls her." Hunter admitted before sending out a bolt of crimson lighting.

"Well, he is her older brother. He's probably used to her doing what he says. I mean, I would of thought you'd understand. Your always take charge with you and Blake."

"But I listen to him, I don't just dish orders."

Shane didn't reply, but he faced Hunter with a face that gave an impression of, `well...`.

Tori had taken out more Manlays then she could count. The animals just kept coming from the woods. Pulling water from the air and ground, she quickly learned they weren't fond of water. She combined the elemental attacks with her own fighting style, getting in closer to the animals before hitting them in joints or nerves, rendering them immobile. Admittedly, though tiring, it was getting easier. She was just beginning to enjoy the fight when the voice of one of her friends called a warning. "Tori!"

Turning, she found a posse of Manlays all coming straight for her. She couldn't risk getting close to so many opponents, and they were moving to fast to be taken out with the limited amount of liquid at her disposal. She inhaled in fear, deciding the best course of action would be to try and avoid them. Just as she was about to move, the sky directly above darkened, and the biggest bolt of lighting she had ever seen shot down to fry every one of them in a flash of navy. It hit the ground so hard, she lost her balance and fell onto her hip.

"What the heck...?" she said as she began to pick herself up. She was stopped by a hand reaching out to help her. Following up the arm, to the head, she saw Blake smiling sheepishly a her, with a tint of worry in his eyes. "Hey." she said, smiling just as he was.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks to you." She said as she took his hand. When he'd pulled her to her feet, then just kind of stood there for a second.

"Anytime." he replied.

"I'll remember that." Another second went by before they realized there was still a battle going on around them, and they were still connected at the hand.

"Uhmm." Blake began, cutely ackward.

"We should probably.."

"Yeah." Blake agreed. They both turned back to the current threat.

"They're so cute." Alexis commented.

"It was a good thing he was there." Josh replied.

"Did you just compliment a Thunder Ninja?"

"I don't like the Thunders, doesn't mean I'm oblivious to the good that they do do."

"Really? 'Cuz, we've seen them do a decent amount of good, and this is first time you've ever said anything." Alexis pointed out as she burned another attacker. Josh just grunted in reply. They continued, using their aggressive fighting style to its fullest.

"I...miss...my...LAVA..SWORD!" Alexis complained between strikes. Knocking out another Manlay, for the time being, she saw an opportunity. "Josh, eleven o'clock." Ash-a-Trops was standing ahead of them. "Looks like he doesn't have a sparring partner."

"Well, why don't we give him one or two." Josh quipped. The siblings headed straight for the monster.

"Look, two mice to be slayed." Ash-a-Trops attempted.

"Seriously? I like you better when you couldn't speak." Alexis flew up in a tornado kick to his head. Josh and Alexis both unleashed a series of physical attacks on them, but found it did little good against his thick armor-like skin.

"It's like punching a volcano." Josh analyzed.

"That be the point."

"Dude, someone has got to fix your English."

Ash-a-Trops ignored them, and instead a cluster of holes appeared around them. Lava began spewing from the openings.

"So, you power is to make fire come from the ground." Josh observed. "Well guess what big guy, mine makes fire come from the sky." Josh only had to lift his hands and shoot fire into the sky. There, they formed into small but powerful spheres, coming down onto the alien.

"GAH!" it screamed at the oncoming assault. Alexis was ignoring him, instead gazing into the sky where Josh's attacks would take form. It was a highly advanced technique, one that she had never gotten to learn before Lothor abducted her entire school. It was because she had her eyes on the sky she saw it. The emerald dragon, just to the east, flying away from the battle. On instinct, she began running.

"Scarlet, where are you going?" Josh yelled at her.

"Just trust me!" She shouted over her shoulder before disappearing into the woods.

Josh summed all of his energy into one more fireball, bringing it down directly on the alien. It knocked the monster out of the fight, but only for a moment as the thing returned to its feet before disappearing as the sisters had. Turning to survey the battle, Josh saw they were winning. Most the Manlays were either retreating or dead.

"Lets end this. Push them back!" he heard Shane order. He joined the others in a last effort.

Once the Manlays had all ran back to the safety of their homes, the villagers let out a loud cheer. Danny came up, grinning wildly. The boys grabbed hands in a signature high-five, before turning and exchanging high-fives or 'good works' with the rest of the fighters. Danny and Dustin spent a moment discussing how awesome the fight was. The villagers who had been in safety emerged, and began tending to the wounded.

"Collect the dead Manlays." Josh ordered some of them. "Put them in storage, there'll be meat for weeks."

"Where's Alexis?" Hunter came up and demanded.

"You really want to start making demands on me, Bradley?"

"If you weren't Alexis' brother.."

"What, you'd hurt me? Lot of nerve for someone.."

"Alright, break it up, you two." Blake interrupted. "You've made it obvious you don't like each other, but the fact of the matter is, Alexis is not here, so she could be in danger."

Alexis had ran into the words, heading to where she thought the dragon had hovered above. She ran as first as she could, weaving between trees and rocks.

_'Something is off about that dragon. Why do I think I can understand it? And whats with this whole pain thing?'_ She was jerked from her thoughts when she came to a sudden stop. The setting was cliché. A clearing in the forest, not large, but enough for the dragon to be resting there. She was only a few meters away. She could almost feel the emerald flames warmth. But she saw how small the aforementioned flames were. On close examination, the puke-green scales could be easily seen. It looked at her, but Alexis recognized the emotion in its eyes. Not anger, but fear.

"I'm not going to hurt you." she said softly, raising her hands and taking a tentative step forward. When it did not move, she tried a few more, but it huffed and tried to stand. Alexis halted. She watched, it struggle to get up, before giving up. When it looked back at Alexis, its face held a new expression. Resentment.

"Somethings wrong with you." Alexis realized. "Your sick." The dragon gave a low growl, which Alexis somehow knew to interpret as, 'no duh'.

"You've come here to die, and you want to me gone, because you think I'll kill you, and you just want to go in peace." The resent left the dragons eyes, and she saw once again a deep sorrow.

"I want to help you." the dragon obviously understood her words, but cocked its head as if to ask why.

"It's those flames, isn't it. The green fire. That's not right. They're whats hurting you." Alexis tried a few more steps, this time, the dragon did not move, just stared her straight in the eyes. "Let me help you."

All was still for a moment, before the dragon lowered its head, the flames there dying down. Alexis had another moment. '_This is its way of agreeing. Its saying, `okay`.' _She carefully placed her hands on its head. "This will probably hurt us both." she warned before absorbing the flames.

It was the most excruciating pain Alexis had ever felt. A thousand times worse than the first time, but she kept going. She some how knew this is what needed to be done.

When she was finally done, she collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily. When she looked up again, her eyes widened in awe. It was undoubtedly the same dragon, but with a new majestic flare. Its scales now gleamed a bright scarlet color. The flame beginning to burst from its back were vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows. It was looking at her. She felt something new. It seemed like someone's thoughts had drifted into her head.

"You're welcome." she responded weakly. "Why do I know what you mean?"

'Bonded', came into her head.

"Because I saved you, we're bonded." she said, her voice getting weaker. "You got a name?"

It shook its head. "That won't due. We'll just have to pick something to call you." She looked up and down its body. "Most my friends call me Scarlet. Why don't we just call you Red." The dragon nodded in silent approval.

'Must go'

"Yeah, you probably have some business that needs tending to."

'Rest' Alexis gave a small laugh. "I will. I'll be fine"

She kept her consciousness long enough to see Red fly off. She could see the darkness closing in and feel her body falling backwards. She was only awake long enough to hear a male voice, filled with love and concern.

"Alexis!"

**A/N-HI EVERYBODY! So, that was fun, very little things on interest happened if your reading this for the Hunter/Alexis-ness, but I promise, there will be a lot more in the next chappy. I don't know bout y'all, but I'm so ready to get you all to the end of VS. In fact, sooo ready, I have decided, with the exception of a quick Christmas presnt, will not be uplaoding anything else onto FF until its done. Your welcome.**

**So, I'd like to give a shout out, so much thanks to HunterBradley, whose offered to make a cover for this story.**

**So, what'd y'all think. So much thanks to dsiuser, who gave me the original idea of the dragon.**

**Special Thanks To**

**HunterBradley**

**Malloryxoxome**

**vanillapalmtrees(that is so true, I do make you wait months. You know, I never really realized that til now)**

**StellaTori**

**ninjaxman**

**kitten9322( hey sry theres no Dustin/Marah, but heres my theory. In between when Marah played the good guy and the season finale it seemed like they hadnt had any contact, and im trying to keep this as cannon as possible. So, I apologize I cant do what you requested)**

**Lamoyasmith vs blakeNtori**

**D.J. Scales**

**Guest( you know what, if your the same person everytime, I'm beginning to really like you)**

**BooksFan101**

**MintyMintMint**

**White Fairy Writer( happy now? And its even before Thanksgiving)**

**Remember, reviews inspire the writer. **


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Hunter reached the clearing just I time to see Alexis pass out. "Oh, God." he muttered to himself when he knelt beside her. "Alexis?" he said again, softly this time. He brushed a piece of red hair out of her face. She looked peaceful. He carefully placed one arm under her legs, and the other around her back, to lift her up. When he rose to his feet, he turned and began to walk back, trying to go as fast as he could, but not too fast, because he didn't want to make the ride bumpy for the unconscious girl he carried. Alexis's body rolled slightly, so that her head nuzzled into his chest.

He was immediately noticed when he returned to the edge of the village.

"Alexis!" Josh shouted. He dashed over to Hunter, eyes intent on the red-head. "What happened?"

"I don't know, she passed out right before I got to her."

"We gotta get her checked out."

"By who?" Hunter said doubtful.

"Village doctor. Come on, I'll take her to the hut." Before Hunter could protest, Josh had snatched Alexis's unconscious form from him, and carried her into the village. He rolled his eyes and followed.

"Terric, I need you!" Josh called. Immediately, a bronze-skinned man emerged from another hut that was larger than avergae. "My sister has been hurt." Josh said, and Terric complied by showing the three of them into the hut.

The inside resembled what Hunter imagined some olden times healer's lab to look like. A fire burned brightly, the room was filled with shelves, all jammed with jars or makeshift containers holding different herbs and powders. Of the five cots, three of them were taken. Two men and a women were resting peacefully, Hunter assumed they had been hurt in the fight. Terric had Josh lay Alexis down on the cot closest to the fire, and began examining her. Josh and Hunter stood back, watching as the medic worked.

"Will she be okay?" Hunter asked finally.

"She will recover. She has exhausted herself. She needs rest." Terric replied.

Blake found Tori sitting alone by one of the unused fire places. She was staring intently into the unheated coals. Around them, people were recovering from the battle, and all the other places wer being used to prepare food. Blake guessed it was late morning.

"Hey." he said.

Tori looked up, "Hey." and after a brief moment, "Come, sit."

Blake sat beside her. "They found Alexis."

"Yeah, I saw Hunter bring her back. Um, Shane and Dustin haven't come back from looking yet. Josh and Dustin got back right before he did." another moment. "Is she okay?"

"According to Hunter, she'll be fine." Blake told her. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'm just thinking about, stuff."

"Penny for your thoughts." he gave her a smile.

Tori looked at him, and let out a giggle as she smiled too. "It's just.. Alexis and Josh, after their parents...died, they were supposed to come live with us. My dad was their dad's brother, so he was legal guardian. But, well they didn't." Tori took a deep breath, and Blake encouraged her to continue.

"It was after the funeral. Their family still lived in California at the time, just a few hours out of Blue Bay Harbor. The reception was being held in beautiful area right by the cemetery. All the adults were, talking and drinking in this pavilion. Alexis and I were five, and we were playing. And, right as things were beginning to wrap up, this black limo pulled up. I remember it was different from the one we had come in, because the first one was plain and this one was one of those Hummers, you know, the ones that look like a big box." Blake nodded.

"So, Alexis and I just kinda watch it, and this guy gets out. My parents go over to talk to him, and soon one of them motions for Josh to come. Josh obviously knew the guy, so I asked Alexis, and she told me it was man her parents knew, named X. A few more words were exchanged, next thing I knew, Josh had come over to us, was giving me a hug, and said to Alexis they had to go. So she got up, hugged me, and left. I was so confused when they hugged my parents. Then the man just, picked Alexis up, helped her into the limo, climbed after her, and the three of them were gone." Tori sighed. Blake inched closer to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't see them again for four years. And it took me eight to figure out where he took them."

"The Volcano Academy." Blake said.

"Yeah, to train them into these intense fire ninja. And, I can't help but wonder, if he hadn't come that day, and they had stayed with us, would any of this happened? Would Alexis have ever met Hunter? Would she know how to be a fire ninja? Would Josh of been stuck here for nearly a year? Would she be hurt?"

"Hey hey," Blake interrupted. "Don't beat yourself up over this. Ninjas get hurt some time."

"It's just, their my family. I hate thinking about all the crap life's thrown at them."

"Well if it makes you feel better, it seems that every time life has hit them, they hit it back, harder."

Tori laughed heartily at his comment. He joined in. When they finally got their breath back, she smiled sweetly at him. "You know, it was really cool of you to do what you did. Making Hunter and Josh work together I mean."

"Well, they were both being idiots." he cocked his head slightly. Tori giggled again. "Can I ask a question though?"

"Sure." she replied, shrugging one shoulder.

"What happened between you and Danny?"

Tori opened her mouth, before exhaling from laughter again. "Well, a few years ago, he had come with Josh and Alexis for a visit over summer. We hung out a lot and, got along, really well. So we just kinda, started dating. But we ended it about a week after he went home. Long distance relationships really aren't my thing."

Josh and Hunter were in Josh's hut again.

"Thank you." Josh said finally.

"For what?"

"For helping my sister."

"I didn't do it because she was your sister." Josh looked up like he was about to retort. "I did it because I care about her."

Josh closed her his mouth and sighed. Hunter rolled his eyes. "Dude, what is your problem?"

"My problem is you. You, messing with my baby sisters head."

"I think your problem, is Alexis cares about someone you want her to hate."

"Well, that too. Look, Thunder, you can't just mess with the balance of things. Alexis is a Volcano, fire ninja. She was raised to hate Thunder Ninja, and better yet, she had a reason."

"And I was trained to hate Volcano Ninja."

"THAT, is the issue. You were both born and bred to hate the other, and now your trying to have something between you. Does that sound, like a relationship that will work out. Or better question, do you think you could ever really forgive Alexis for what she did to your school."

Hunter stood quiet for a moment. Josh had thrown a curve ball and he had no idea how to hit it. Did he forgive Alexis? No, not fully. Did he want to? Of course.

"Hunter, I'm about to say something, and that something better never leave this room. As a guy, I respect you. I can see your a good person, and you'll make any girl happy. But as a ninja, I hate you. It's just the way things are. Your the kind of guy I always wanted my sister to be with, but I can't not think that because of the kind of ninja you are, she'll get hurt. And I won't let her get hurt again."

The two men just watched each other, analyzing their opponent. "Josh, I can respect what your saying."

Josh smiled and nodded, "Thank.."

"But unfortunately I can't comply. I care about Alexis, and I know she cares about me, so I'm not going to let anyone, including you, tell me how to live my life. And since you care about her so much, you need to let her live her own life. I can promise you though, I won't hurt her."

Josh stared, stunned at the opposition. From his expression Hunter could tell, Josh was used to getting his way. The tension was interrupted however.

"Tana, whats wrong?" Josh asked the girl who had burst in.

"Papa." she replied.

"Papa?" Hunter asked.

"Terric, he's Tana's dad." Josh quickly explained.

"He says somethings wrong with Alexis. Apparently, according to her vitals she should be awake, but she's not, and he says she would have recovered by now, but she's still sleeping and he can't wake her."

No one missed all the blood draining from Josh's face. "No." he breathed. "Oh God, no no no." Before another word could be spoken he ran out of the hut and to the Medical Hut. Hunter quickly followed.'

When Hunter arrived, Josh was already over Alexis, shaking her violently. "Alexis!" he screamed at her. "ALEXIS, wake up damnit!" Alexis did not stir. "No." Josh said as he sat on the side of the bed. "This can't be happening." His face was in his hands.

"What's happening?" Hunter asked. He would be annoyed at Josh if he wasn't so concerned.

When Josh finally looked at Hunter, his eyes held nothing but grief. "I said, there were a lot of things about Alexis you didn't know."

"And I take it this is one of them."

"Yeah. Have you ever heard of Idiopathic Hypersomnia?" Hunter shook his head. "Well, it's this condition. People who have it, fall asleep, and when they do, they can't wake up."

"So Alexis has it." it wasn't a question.

"Mmhmm. But she has a very advanced, very rare, form of it. I mean like, the majority of the general public who'd even know about the original condition, don't know about this one."

Josh stopped, but the one look at Hunter told him to elaborate. "It doesn't affect her everytime, most nights she sleeps peacefully and wakes up in the morning as normal. But when it does affect her, it's a lot worse. Once she's in a deep enough sleep, nothing can wake her. She'll sleep until finally her body wakes on its own, but it could be days, weeks, even months."

Hunter was a bit taken aback by the information. He began to process it all in his head. "The first night we were here, Alexis was having a nightmare or something, and at first I couldn't wake her up, but then she did."

"She probably wasn't deep enough asleep yet. Her being unconscious was basically getting to that deep part without all the time it normally takes." Josh explained.

Something new dawned on Hunter. "Wait a minute, you said she could sleep for _days_?"

"Or weeks or months, yes."

"But, if she doesn't wake up soon... she'll starve."

Josh pressed his lips into a tight line, looking back at his sister. "Yeah."

Hunter stood shocked. He finally knelt by the head of the bed, running the back of a finger down the side of her face. "Whats the longest she's ever slept?" he barely breathed out.

"There was a time, when she finally roused. She said, she felt like had been out a couple of hours." Josh bit his lip. "It had been three months."

"So what do we do, just wait for her to wake up?" Hunter's angry side was beginning to show.

"We can't." Josh replied, also becoming angry. "At the Volcano we could keep her fed, we could keep her alive, but we don't have any of the equipment we'd need here." he too a deep breathe.

"We're going to force her awake."

"Didn't you just say, nothing could wake her."

"No outside force in the world can, no. We need to go inside."

"Inside?"

"Did Alexis show you the trick were a Volcano Ninja enters anothers mind?"

"Well, Danny forced his ways into hers when he was being held captive."

"That's what I'm talking about. It's a trick only the VA teaches. Most everyone else thinks its too dangerous, so it was lost to them long ago."

"Dangerous, because if done wrong it could fry the mind, right?"

"She's asleep, it'll be fine."

Hunter wanted to protest, but Josh caught him before he could. "Hunter, if we don't wake her soon, _she, will, die_."

Hunter thought about it for a moment. He looked back to Alexis, who was sleeping, so seemingly peacefully. "You said we, not I."

"Do you want in or not?"

"What do we have to do?" Hunter replied as his answer.

"Do you trust me?"

"No." Hunter answered honestly.

"Good, it'd be weird if you did." Josh replied just as honestly. He had picked up Alexis's hand, gently squeezing and unsqueezing. "But do you trust we both want to save Alexis right now."

"Yes."

"Alright then. Take her other hand. This might be a bit uncomfortable."

**A/N- HI EVERYONE! So, the part where they are in Alexis's head was supposed to be in this chapter, but I decided it was already really long, so your just gonna have to wait until next time, which will be after Thanksgiving, but def before the winter holidays. I hope you all like it, and thanks for the votes, by the way total of those.**

**Josh-1...Hunter-10, I was really hoping that'd be closer.**

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	22. Alexis' Dream

Chapter 22

A slight buzz began from where Josh held his forearm and spread throughout his body. Hunter closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to intensify. He recalled when Alexis had tricked the portal into believing he and Blake were fire ninja, and slightly regretted blowing up at her. Slightly. It was still Hunter after all, and he was still far to stubborn.

The feeling however, decreased before turning into pain. Hunter waited a minute for it to begin again, but all remained still. _'Great,'_ he thought, _'the only guy here who'd know anything about this, and he can't do it.'_ He opened his eyes and mouth, ready to repeat his thoughts to the fire ninja.

"Whoa." he said instead. They were no longer in the tiny hut, they were standing on a beach, with clear blue skies above them and the ocean stretching out before them. "Where are we?"

"Hawaii." Josh answered calmly, though he was still taking in the sights. "Home. I've missed this place." he dropped his hold on Hunter arm, bending down and scooping a handful of sand, before straightening and letting it run through his fingers. The smile on his face reminded Hunter of some cheesy movie where the hero is back to something they love for the first time in a long time.

"So, this is the Volcano." Hunter said, gazing around.

"Pretty much. See that pit of rocks over there," he pointed to the left, "that's where we have bonfires. Back there," he turned a pointed to a cluster of boulders, "the first rocks is where a bunch of the kids used to sit and suntan, or knock the sand out of there shoes. The rocks further back is the entrance to the VA. And going up from that, would be an active volcano."

"Your school is in an active volcano?" Hunter asked incredulously.

"Is your school actually in a waterfall? Course not, it's behind the volcano, that's just the portal."

Hunter chose to ignore the sarcasm. "So, why are we here."

"My guess, Alexis' dreams, when they are not a nightmare, shape into a fantasy/faux reality of hers. This was her favorite place to be, so it makes sense."

"So, because she's having a good dream, we're in her personal fantasy."

"Basically. And if this is her fantasy, Alexis should be right..out..there!" Josh pointed to the distant waves. When Hunter squinted, sure enough, he saw a scarlet board flash between the waves. "I personally never like surfing much, but, to each his own." Josh said with a shrug.

"Well come on, lets go get her." Hunter said, beginning to move towards the water. Josh caught up quickly.

"Hold it, Thunder."

"You are not gonna try this again."

"Just listen. Look, can't you feel the sand under your feet."

"Duh, why?"

"We are in Alexis' subconscious. So, she's fine, the mind won't hurt itself. However, since we're technically just trespassers, everything that happens here is real to us."

"You're point?"

"Say Alexis' mind shifts. That ocean becomes a tsunami, and she'll be fine of course, but us, very possibly not."

Hunter just looked at Josh for a second. He had no right to say anything, as he both had the power to control thunder and was a Power Ranger, but he couldn't help thinking, _'How the hell is this even possible.'_

"Our best bet, is too wait until she comes in."

"When will that be?"

"I have no clue, she loves the waves." Josh looked back out at his sister, before his eyes narrowed on something lower. "Come on, I think I see her stuff."

So the boys walked up the beach until they came to where the belongings lied. A scarlet towel was laid across the sand, with another sitting folded up next to it. An over sized beach bag was on its side in the sand, with a few of its contents spilling out. The boys sat in silence. Hunter almost chuckled to himself. Any other circumstance and the interaction of a Thunder and Fire student would result in an instant fight to the death. Yet here he was sitting on a beach with his supposedly worst enemy. He looked over to Josh, but instead the contents of the bag caught his eyes.

"What the.." he asked when he picked up the shirt. 

"What is it?"

"This is my shirt." he said, not sure whether or not to be creeped out.

"Like I said, ideal reality. She wants to be home, she wants to be in peace, and she obviously wants to be with you. That's probably the sign for in this world, she's dating you." Josh replied, his demeanor very nonchalant.

"Let me guess, another reason you want her out of here?"

Josh's silence was answer enough. For the second time that day, Hunter rolled his eyes at his cold behavior.

"OK dude, not to get all philosophical on you, but I remember Sensei Omino teaching us about the difference between hate and hatred. Hate can be taught, hate is how our schools mostly feel towards the other but, hatred, it's not taught it's born. And you are definitely a hatred guys. So really, why?"

Josh seemed to take ten minuted inhaling and exhaling one breath. "Alexis, never, told you the full story, did she?"

"I know it has something to do with your parents death."

"Yeah. Twelve years ago, my mom and dad took us to the park. It was this, sorta tradition, every Saturday we went out for lunch and then to the playground. It was this murky day, and we were the only ones dumb enough to be out in the cold. My mom was throwing a baseball with me, and Dad was pushing 'Lexi on the swings." As Josh described it Hunter could paint a picture in his head. A happy family, peaceful, content, unsuspecting. "Then, all of a sudden, these men appear out of nowhere. Just these two guys, all dressed in black, but when my parents saw the Thunder symbol," Josh briefly nodded to the symbol on Hunter's chest, "they freaked. Mom pushed me down and started sparring against one of them, while the other went for my dad, who pulled these two knives out of thin air, I hadn't even known he carried weapons." Josh interrupted his own story. Hunter cocked his head, genuinely interested even though he knew how the story would end.

"It all blurred together. They fought, and fought, and then my mom screamed and I saw her fall, and my dad yelled something, and a knife appeared in her killers back, and as he fell my dad ran to my mom, but the other ninja was too quick, and..." Hunter pretended to not notice the water gathering at the corners of the mans eyes. "And they died. They were killed, brutally, by Thunder ninja, even though they hadn't done anything. The Thunders just killed them because they thought since they were were Fire ninja it was the right thing to do. No regard for the fact that they had lives and children. So, that." He turned back to Hunter. "That's where my hatred was born."

Hunter nodded in understanding. "And, Alexis?"

"Was too young, is too innocent. Alexis doesn't really _hate_ anyone. Just me on occasion, when I'm being an ass. She doesn't like the Thunder Academy, but, she doesn't place blame on the students." Josh explained, eyes back on the water.

"My birth parents didn't want me." Hunter revealed. "I went to a dozen foster homes before I was adopted. I loved my parents more than anything in the world. My dad got me into dirt-bike racing, my mom always helped with my work, they were great. And then they were killed."

Josh's head shot back to the other orphan. "Alexis mentioned something about that. The night we left your academy."

"A night I remember completely." Hunter said sarcastically. "Anyway, I didn't know who murdered my parents, and that killed me more than anything. When I was told it was Sensei Watanabe, I immediately believed it because I wanted someone to blame so badly. That turned out to be a lie, but now I know who really killed them."

"And do you hate them?"

Hunter thought over the question. "I guess I do." Another few moments went by before Hunter started shaking his head in the negative. "Look man, this whole opening up thing, really not my style."

Josh actually laughed. Hunter realized this one only the second time he had even seen the guy grinned, the first of course being in reunion with his family. "No worries. Don't think about it as opening up, think of what just happened as my routine interrogation of any guy interested in my sister." Josh let out the last of his chuckles as he finished, "But your not a bad guy Hunter. When we take away the whole ninja thing."

Hunter chose not to retort. Another question had floated across his mind. "Why'd you let me come?"

"Huh?"

"You didn't have to. You could of done this by yourself but you brought me instead. Why?"

Josh sighed. He didn't look annoyed at Hunter like he did before. He just seemed..tired. "I could tell from watching Alexis' face she was in a fantasy. And she subconsciously knows as long as she's here, she'll continue being in a world where she ha no problems. Let's face it, anyone would want that. She needs to be talked into wanting reality back. But she wouldn't listen to me."

"How come?"

"She and I had a little dispute. I forbade her from seeing you, and she didn't want to comply. She'll listen to you though."

"Wait, you did _what?"_

"Ah, there she is." Hunter looked up to see Alexis. She looked like something coming out of a sports magazine. Her wild red hair waved in the wind behind her, the scarlet surfboard held under one tanned arm, and she smiled was wide as the sea itself. Hunter registered Josh getting up and walking back up the beach, to not piss off his possibly mentally-unstable little sister. When Alexis saw Hunter, confusion flashed across her face, but soon turned into another, smaller, smile.

"Hunter." she said when she reached him. "What's up?" With such an easygoing question, Hunter wondered whether she realized they were in a dream or not.

"Oh, nothing much." Hunter said to test her reaction. If she caught he that he wasn't serious, she knew none of this was real. But she just nodded ever so slightly. She placed her board next to her things and reached down to grab her towel and dry off.

Hunter studied her, considering how to best approach the situation. He was in Alexis' personnel dreams, and she had no clue that everything around her wasn't reality. "Take a walk with me?" he suggested.

"Sure." She picked up the shirt from the ground and threw it on. They began walking down the beach , side by side. There was a peaceful silence between them.

Hunter didn't know how long he walked before deciding on the indirect approach. "Can I ask you some thing 'Lexis?"

"You just did." she smiled at him cheekily, which was then returned.

"Very funny. But I'm serious."

"Hunter, you know you can ask me anything."

Hunter took a deep breathe. "Okay then. Why didn't you tell me about your condition?"

Alexis stopped suddenly. Her eyes pulled back from sweet happiness to uncomfortable realization. "Condition?" she asked meekly.

"The Idiopathic Hypersomnia."

"I guess it just never came up." Alexis had looked at the ground. Hunter waited as she took a breath, then another. "Which means there is only one way you could know about it." Alexis began to shake her head slowly, up, and down, up, and down. "Except, I don't have a sleeping disease. Not here. Which means I'm in a dream." She looked back at Hunter, and it pained him to see the tears pooling in her eyes. "None of this is real." he realized she was begging him to contradict her.

" Alexis." he began.

"This is all in my head." Alexis began to shake as the tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

_'She's so different here._ _Vulnerable, fragile, it's not like her at all.' _Hunter thought to himself. "Hey hey, come here." he told her and pulled her into his arms. She continued to shake as she sank into his embrace, clutching his shirt. They stayed that way for a few more minutes before Alexis' body began to still and she calmed herself. Finally pulling away, she looked Hunter in the eye.

"How'd you get here?"

"Josh brought me. He was worried sick about you."

"It's normal. He tends to freak whenever I get stuck."

"It's because he loves you."" Hunter said.

Alexis scoffed. But then she took another deep breathe and looked back the way they had come. "I know he loves me. But sometimes it's like he hates me being happy."

"You mean like, not letting you date me." Alexis cocked her head in question. "He filled me in." Hunter explained.

"I just wish he wouldn't try and control me. I'm almost 18, I can make my own choices, and I do not need older brother watching every step to make sure none of those choices are mistakes."

"He just wants to protect you." Hunter reasoned.

"If you wanted to protect me, would you do it by not letting me have my own life?" Alexis shot back.

A pause. "Good point."

Alexis sighed again. She turned around and looked over the ocean her mind had created, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't want to leave. I don't have to deal with any of that here."

"But if you stay, you'll die in the real world."

"But if I leave, I'll go have to go back to being perfect-little-Alexis, the poor girl who lost her parents so she trained herself to be a Fire Ninja prodigy. Who was always the teachers pet, who would help any other student with anything, who would someday do something to make everyone so-freaking-proud." Alexis angrily said.

It was Hunters turn to sigh, in frustration. "There you go again. Acting like its everyone else fault, like you can't do a single thing to change your own life, your stuck as you are forever."

"Hunter just..."

"No, Alexis, listen." He stepped around so she was looking at him again. "Stop complaining. You don't like your life, change it. You don't want to hate for no reason, stop. You don't want to be controlled by Josh, don't be."

Alexis was quiet for a few more moments. "Your right." she finally said.

"Did Alexis Hanson just admit someone else was right?"

"Oh shut up." she said, but some of the playfulness had returned. "I can't be controlled forever. I need to make my own decisions."

"Can't do that from in here."

"Your right." she walked a few steps away from him. "I want to leave." she said loudly. Just like that, the world around them began to change. The sky darkened, the water became still, the foliage's color began to fade. With the changes, Josh appeared behind them.

"Time to go, if we don't get outta here before Alexis wakes up, everyone's mind could be fried." He instructed. Hunter turned to say something more to Alexis, but Josh caught him by the shoulder. "She'll be fine, wait until you see her in the real world." and just like that, Hunter felt him and Josh slipping away, out of the faux world.

He awoke again in the tiny hut. It was now vacant of its other occupants, leaving the three alone. He had been positioned so that he was propped against the bed, head in his arm on the mattress. His other hand held Alexis'. He moved so he sat next to her.

"She's fine." Josh's voice came from behind him. He was leaning next to the fireplace, closer than Hunter would have thought comfortable. "It's normal now. Go ahead, wake her up."

So Hunter leaned over and gently shook Alexis. The time in between that and her eyes fluttering open was painfully extended. But soon they did and Alexis' green eyes stared up at him.

When Alexis had pulled herself together and stood, the three were left with a somewhat awkward silence. Alexis finally walked over to her brother, who quickly pulled her into a hug, which was returned. When he released her, he said, "I'm really glad your okay Alexis."

"You should know better than to worry. I have a habit of somehow escaping bad situations."

"All the same, it's my job to worry. But when we get home.."

"Josh, don't finish that sentence." Alexis interrupted. He looked at her like she had told him not to breathe. She took a deep breath, and stepped a few steps back from him.

"Alexis?" he questioned.

"I'm done, Josh. I'm not gonna just take orders from you anymore. I can't have someone telling me what to do. I'm nearly 18, I need to start controlling my own life."

Josh, for his part, looked like he had been slapped. When he finally said something, it was, "I never meant to control you. I just wanted to protect."

Alexis shook her head. "I'm not the same baby girl I once was. I don't need your protection. And I don't want it."

"'Lexis, are you sure?"

Alexis looked at him, and Hunter feared she was going to back down on the whole thing. But she turned around, so her gaze focused on him instead. She walked the few steps to him and before anyone processed what was occurring, she had her lips pressed hard against Hunters. He of course complied, immediately kissing her back. This kiss was different from their first fiery, passion-filled one they had shared just last night. It was gentle, loving. And it ended as quickly as it began.

She looked to her brother. "I'm positive."

**A/N- and so concludes chapter 22. What'd you think. I rather liked her dream sequence, those are always fun to right. Anyway, this wasn't going to be up for another week, but a message from emberlyho prompted me to get it up sooner. Anyway, I'm really excited that Volcano Storm is starting to wrap up, so review, and I'll get the last chunk of chapters to y'all quicker.**

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	23. Chapter 23

Volcano Storm Chapter 23

Tori practically burst into hut, throwing her arms around Alexis. After recovering from shock, Alexis gladly hugged her back. "Good to see you too cuz." Alexis joked.

"You have no idea how mad I am at you right now." Tori said when she pulled away, but she was laughing.

"Would this be mad for leaving the middle of a battle to chase down a dragon which had previously tried to kill me, or mad for getting injured and falling into sleeping spell mode?"

"I haven't decided yet." The girls laughed together. Looking around Tori was surprised she hadn't noticed Hunter before. He was sitting on the bed behind Alexis, leaning nonchalantly against the wall. He had a smile that Tori had only seen a couple times before. The normally brooding Crimson ranger seemed, quite plainly happy. Not victorious, or amused. Just, happy. By the fire, Josh was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with an expression that didn't convey he was upset, rather that he was defeated.

Blake entered behind Tori, waiting as the cousins joked. HE saw his brother behind the red-head, and a raised an eyebrow to send a message, _'what?'_

Hunter got up from his seat. Alexis opened her mouth, but he squeezed her shoulder and smiled at her. Blake caught the confusion that flashed across Tori's face at the gesture. Hunter walked to Blake and motioned to exit the hut. The brothers continued until they were out of hearing distance.

"Dude, what happened?" Blake asked.

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

"Man, it's crazy." The look Hunter had made Blake believe him. "I was arguing with Josh, and next thing I'm learning is that she is stuck asleep, so I go into her head to wake her up. And in there, she's stuck in her own personnel fantasy, which includes being with me. But she's so different there. She was sensitive, soft. Anyway, I basically convince her to take control of her own life and not be run by her brother or her school, and then next thing I know, we're back in the real world and she's kissing me in front of her brother."

Blake took all this in. "Woah." was what he managed to say.

"Like I said, crazy."

"So, she kissed you?"

"Yeah."

"In front of her brother, who hates you?"

"Yep."

"And, did you like it?"

"Dude, I kissed her back."

"..."

"Hey, I told you wouldn't believe it."

"So are you guys together now or something?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe." Hunter saw his brothers expression, "What is it?"

"Bro, she's..." Blake didn't finish.

"I know what your thinking. She's a Volcano, I'm a Thunder. I've gotten it from Josh already, multiple times. But Blake, I really like her." Hunter admitted to his brother. "Everything she did before was out of loyalty to her school. The place where she was raised and trained and grew. I understand why she did what she did better than anyone." The boys remained still, each going over what was happening.

"I'll be honest, Alexis has a lot of things to make up for." Blake said. "But frankly.. I like her. She's nice and funny and devoted. I liked her when we knew her before and I've seen the things we liked about her still here now. And, she makes you happy. She's good for you. So bro, if you want to be with her," he clapped his brother on the back, "I'm happy for you."

* * *

"Um, do you maybe want to explain something?" Tori asked once Hunter and Blake had left.

"Not particularly."

"I maybe blonde 'Lexis, but I'm not dumb. Just how did things work out between you and Hunter?" Tori interrogated.

"You see, that is kind of complicated."

"Would you answer the freaking.."

"Hey!" a new voice said. Tori and Alexis turned to the new arrivals, Dustin, Danny, and Shane. Dustin strode over to Alexis.

"Glad to see your alright." he said, tossing his hand towards her. She caught it and smiled as she tightened her grip.

"I'm good."

"Man girl, you had us worried." Shane told her.

Alexis smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"You get used to it." Danny told Shane and Dustin. "She's always doing stupid stuff."

"HEY!" She was waved off.

"So this sleep disorder thing, is it kind of like those spells in princess movies?" Dustin asked.

Alexis laughed. "Um, yes, except, no magic or evil witches were involved, I can't be woken by a kiss, I am totally quiet and peaceful, and I can't go a hundred years without eating anything."

"Well, we're all glad your okay." Shane informed her.

"Thanks." Alexis said before being interrupted by a loud growl emmitted from her stomach. Her hand flew to her belly, before laughing from embarrassment. "Oh yeah, and, I'm kind of ravenous after I wake up. I think I could literally eat a cow." Everyone laughed at the little red-head.

"Well how about one of those things. A uh, manke, or matne, or whatever." Dustin suggested.

"Yeah, come on, we'll take you to get some food."

"Sounds great." Alexis smiled, hopping up to follow the red, orange, and amber ninjas out. "Coming Tor?"

"Be there in a second." Tori waited until the others had disappeared, before turning to the fireplace. "You know, you really got to stop with the whole, silently brooding thing. It makes you way to forgettable."

"Thanks cuz, I'll keep that in mind." Josh replied sarcastically.

"Oh don't be petty."

"Who said anything about petty?"

"By _not_ saying anything, you."

"I'm not being petty."

"Oh really? So, tell me, what just happened?"

Josh sighed heavily, looking away. "Alexis told me I was too controlling. And she basically said she wasn't going to listen to me anymore. And then, she chose to be with that Thunder."

"Hunter."

"I know his name."

"So say it. Josh, you are never going to be able to accept this if you don't start seeing him as a person rather than a ninja."

"Maybe I don't want to accept it."

"And there in lies your eternal struggle." Josh looked at his cousin confused at what she meant. For her part, Tori did well at this conversation. Unlike everyone else, she didn't lose her temper."

"Josh, your sister had a choice. No matter how much everyone tried, she was the only one who could make that choice and she did. You won't be able to change that. So you can either accept it or lose her."

"I've lost too much already."

"So you already know what you need to do."

"But Tori," Josh told her, "look at Alexis. She hates dealing with emotions versus common sense. She'll get hurt."

"Josh, compare Alexis and me, would you say we're about the same, mental strength wise?"

"Yeah, I guess, I mean, differently but I guess yes."

"Imagine my and Alexis' places had been switched, what would you do?"

"I'd be acting protective of you like I'm being for her."

"But think about it. I'm a Power Ranger, Josh. I've grown from a bad student to a really good ninja. I fight bad guys and I save the world and all while I'm the only girl on the team. Do I need protecting?"

"Well no."

"So why would Alexis?" Tori's question left a stunned Josh speechless. He continously went over it in his mind. Alexis was just as strong as Tori, and she'd had far more training than Tori, yet Tori obviously didn't need anyone looking after her. But Alexis was his sister. But, what would it be like if she wasn't? But she was..

"Gah, Tori, your making my brain hurt." He finally said. Tori looked at him pointedly. "Okay fine, I'll talk to Alexis, work something out." the look remained. "and I'll be civil to the Th...Hunter." Tori's smile turned smug.

"Josh, you really are a good brother."

* * *

"Dumb rangers, stupid fault, mess theirs."

"Oh lord, could you please _shut up." _Kapri responded. Ash-a-Trops had been muttering similar tangents for about half an hour, and it was really getting on Kapri's nerves. Marah sighed as she handed Kapri a piece of fruit.

"I like him better when he couldn't talk." She told her sister.

"Me too." Kapri said, rolling her eyes as she took a bite of fruit. "Marah, why'd you save the yellow ranger?"

Marah shrugged. "I don't really know. I mean, I guess it just seemed wrong." she seemed finished but suddenly changed her mind, and in a hurry continued, "We fight him for months and then something that didn't have to put any effort into taking him down gets the glory? Not very fair."

"Guess your right. So, what now?"

Marah shrugged again. "We wait to get off this island."

"Don't wait, we get those rangers out now!" Ash-a-Trops suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"I think he said," Kapri clarified, "Screw waiting, we need to take out the rangers now."

"How?" Marah asked incredulously. But the alien had already disappeared. "Where did he go?"

"Ugh." Kapri said, rising to her feet, "Come on, he probably went back to the village."

"Come on? Why do we have follow him, if he wants to get himself killed, I say let him."

"Marah, lets go." Kapri ordered. Her younger sister sighed in defeat as she broke into a run, following her sister to their highly probable doom.

The rangers had been sitting around a fire pit, eating their fill, when a familiar inhuman roar came from the woods. Standing immediateley, they were just in time to see their alien foe break from the trees.

"I'm gonna pummel you Rangers down!" it yelled.

"Not this clown again." Tori remarked.

Everyone got ready for the oncoming battle.

"Aw man, can't we get a break." a feminine voice said. Kapri and Marah had just cleared the forest, and were looking tiredly at the eight ninjas.

"You two are just in time for the party." Shane called.

Marah's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she said something to her sister.

"Enough talk, time to fight." Ash-a-Trops said. His body began to shake and erupt.

However, before any fighting could be done, a blood red portal opened in the sky. Out of it came dozens of spheres.

"Kelzaks!" Tori warned. Sure enough once they were close enough the turned into Lothor's minions.

"Alright, now that they called in the back up, we can get started." Ash-a-Trops said. However, as soon as he finished speaking, he quickly flew into the air, though not of his own free will. Marah and Kapri were also lifted, and the rangers could just make out the last thing Kapri said. "I think Uncle wants us back." Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the portal above them vanished, leaving the swarm of kelzaks behind.

"Okay, what?" Alexis said, before being attacked. All the ninjas, rangers and not, began combatting the kelzaks.

"If Lothor took his monster back, he's probably attacking Earth." Shane said.

"Then Cam should be opening a way for us to get back soon." Blake yelled.

"What about them?" Josh said as he motioned to a kelzak before kicking it onto its back.

"We take these guys down." Alexis said. And so began another fight, with every kelzack against a ninja. The fight didn't last long though, because another, smaller, portal, this one green and on the ground opened.

"It's Cam!" someone yelled. Of course, Cam himself wasn't there, but it was his work.

"Time to go." Hunter said. Tori, he was already closest, charged through the remaining kelzacks in her path and to the portal, followed by Danny and Dustin. Blake was the next to finish his opponents, and he followed through. Shane and Hunter were fighting together, and with a double strike were able to finish. Shane had gone through, and Hunter turned to see Alexis and Josh still fighting. "The portals closing." he warned. Alexis noticed him a threw a quick smile.

"I'm right behind you." she called to him. He smiled back as he went through. Alexis kept her word, and she and Josh headed to the swirling green just as it began to close. Unfortunately, in the mess a kelzak had been forgotten.

Josh was the only won who saw it. A minion, armed and ready, aimed straight for Alexis. Instincts took over. "Alexis, MOVE!" he yelled, pushing her forward, while simultaneously spinning to block the kelzacks attack. Shocked by the applied force, Alexis fell forward into the portal. This time she saw the portal differently, as she was not exerting so much energy to pass through. It appeared as a large tunnel, moving her on its own, with views of both ends. She looked back in horror at the closing end, where her brother had just vanquished the monster that was going to attack her. But as he turned back towards her, the portal closed, leaving him behind.

Alexis fell ungracefully into Ninja Ops. She took no notice of those around, but instead focused on where the portal had been. "JOSH!"

**A/N- NOOOOOOOOOOOOO JOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSHHHHHH! Aw man, leaving him behindmad em sad. **

**HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY! That's one of the reasons this chapters shorter, it's Christmas Eve, I've bee a bit occupied. I'm so excited for Christmas tomorrow, hopefully im getting an Ipod to replace the one my siblings lost so I'll be able to write fast again(YAY) **

**Also, I hat to write a chapter an bring attention to the AMAZING cover HunterBradley did for me. I just love it so much, if you want to see the full image there is a link on her page. Alright everyone, I must go, there is dinner, church, and Miracle on 34th Street to attend to, but remember VOTE ON MY PAGE FOR THE VOLCANO/THUNDER FEUD and READ AND REVIEW.**

**Merry Christmas**

**Happy Hanukah**

**Happy Kwanza**

**Happy New Years.**

**Special Thanks**

**merderbaby**

**lillyrosenight**

**HunterBradley**

**LamoyaSmith vs blakeNtori**

**Guest**


	24. There and Back Again

Chapter 24

The whole team could only watch as Alexis stared in horror. It took the red-head a few moments to tear her gaze from the space where the portal had been.  
"We have to back." She finally said. Like lighting she got herself up an was in front of Cam. "You have to open it up again!"  
"I can't!" Cam argued.  
"He's trapped there, you have to do something!" Alexis yelled.  
"Alexis, calm down." Tori tried to tell her.  
Hunter moved to Alexis. Facing her, he laid a hand on her face, wiping away a tear she hadn't noticed slipping out. "We'll find him Alexis." His voice was assuring. "We'll get him back, but we need to beat this guy."  
Alexis listened to him due more to impulse than choice. The ninja's common sense took control of her mind, and she nodded.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. The Rangers are trapped, on an island full of the planets most hostile ninja, cut off completely from their ranger powers, against an army of man eating beasts, and you nitwits still manage to lose miserably!" Saying Lothor wasn't happy would be an understatement. "And not only that, but I end up having to save you from fore mentioned island, because you can't handle one, idiotic piece of rock." He turned on his nieces, who responded by cowering slightly.  
"But Uncle, it wasn't totally out fault." Kapri argued.

"Yeah, he's the one who went back to the village." Marah pointed at Ash-a-Trops.

"We tried to tell him he needed a plan." Kapri continued.

"But he wouldn't listen." Marah ended.

"Yes, you." Lothor turned to the alien. "There are few things my nieces are competent at. However, one of them is running away from rangers. Next time, you listen to them." Marah and Kapri nodded and smiled at the backhanded compliment.

"Aww come on boss, lemme to 'em again." The alien pleaded. Lothor rolled his eyes. "I knows I'll beat them."

Lothor groaned as he sat in his chair. "Fine, go, if it'll shut you up." Ash-a-Trops cheered as he returned to the city.

"Uh, Uncle, you know he'll get destroyed right?" Kapri questioned.

"If the rangers don't," Zurgane spoke up, "I'll shut him up myself."

* * *

None of the Rangers would admit how good it felt when the familiar morph energy went through them. As much as the island strengthened their elemental abilities, they were more comfortable in colorful spandex with an array of weapons and technology at their disposal.

They had morphed and rushed to where the alien was creating havoc in Blue Bay Harbor.

Alexis and Tori fought with a shared motivation. One seeking to avenge a cousin, the other a brother. They each went against Ash-a-Trops whenever possible.

When the girls weren't unleashing their joint fury, the boys got a turn at the big fight. Shane's main motivation was he felt a duty as leader. However, he was often fighting kelzaks so to not get in the way of a blue and scarlet pair. Dustin and Cam were satisfied taking out the swarms of minions, this wasn't personnel. Blake tried to be subtle about sticking close to Tori, taking out any kelzaks that could stray to close. Not that she couldn't handle then herself, but she was a bit distracted keeping a certain red-head from getting herself killed.

Hunter wasn't as discreet. He kept as close as possible to Alexis. He took on any minion that came her way while she was fighting the alien. He had her back in battle. And it was shocking how good they worked. If you saw them in battle, fighting a common enemy, you'd never guess they were born enemies.

"Okay, how are they managing the combos?" Tori took a second to ask Blake.

"They paired up for dual duels back at the Thunder Academy. Even bumped me back to Hunter's second choice. They were good, undefeated for a while. Then well, you know." Blake explained quickly.

Tori spared another second to look at the two. _'For someone normally so brooding, he is certainly being obvious.'_

Alexis had a guilty pleasure. Of course, it wasn't an uncommon thing, lots of girls had them. But she had to confess, she loved fighting a lot more than she should. Battle gave her a rush. She could live on adrenaline. And it might be the upbringing, but she admits to starting most the fights she gets into. She tried another strike to her opponent, but she missed and hit rock hard skin. Before she could go again, a stream of water shot past to knock the monster away. Alexis turned to find herself almost face to face with a kelzak. She had only enough time to duck in attempt to avoid his blow. Good thing, because a crimson streak came from behind her to take it out.

"Being a little reckless, aren't we?" Hunter asked when pulling her to her feet.

"What can I say? I am reckless." She replied, pushing him slightly to kick another opponent, but not breaking contact. She barely registered the potential danger if fighting with visors up.

He responded by pulling her back, once again out of the way. It was his Thunder Staff that made contact with the next enemy. "I think impulsive would be the better word."

"Not true. I make an evaluated decision whenever it requires. My evaluation just, tends to include factors very similar to impulse." Alexis mock argued. Hunter smiled at her with his gorgeous eyes. Alexis was suddenly very aware of his closeness to her and his hand on her hip.  
"Need I remind you Thunder, your brother and my best friend are very close." At the same moment Alexis spoke, Ash-a-Trops erupted again. "And we kind of have something to deal with."

"Then lets deal with him. Why not try an attack with fire and thunder together?"

"Together. I think that will be one for the history books."

Hunter smiled at the remark. Each raising a hand, they concentrated towards the alien. They were rewarded with dual streams of red, one crimson lightning and the other scarlet fire. They knocked into the monster in sync, putting him off completely.

"If you guys are gonna beat this guy, I suggest you do that now!" Danny called.

"All right guys, lets put 'em together." Shane ordered.

Danny came to stand by Alexis as the Thunder and Wind Rangers combined weaponry into the Thunderstorm Cannon.

"Why can't our stuff do that?" The red-head wondered aloud.

"Oh don't whine, Scarlet." Danny urged her.

* * *

"Well, that worked out well." Lothor said sarcastically.

"Uh, Uncle, shouldn't we be doing something." Kapri said.

Lothor waved it off. "Yes yes, get on with it."

Marah and Kapri barely looked at each other and shrugged before Marah held up the PAM. "Scroll of Empowerment, descend."

* * *

"And it gets bigger!" Blake announced, not enthusiastically.

"I don't watch the news, is this a constant occurrence?" Alexis asked.

"Basically." Shane replied. "You two stay here, we'll handle this."

"Whoa whoa whoa, what makes you think we can't take on the thing." Danny said.

"Uh dude, did you not see it grow to like, 300 ft tall." Dustin asked.

"So what, your Zords are better than ours." Alexis defended.

"You have Zords?" Was the collective response.

"Let's compare and contrast after we take out the giant volcano monster." Cam said.

The Zords were called to the Rangers. Only a few moments after the original Zords came, two more arrived, one in amber, the other in scarlet.

"Puma Zord is online." Danny said once he got settled into the cockpit. "'Lex?"

"Wildcat Zord is ready to go." Alexis replied. "Incoming transmission, hold up."

"'Lexis? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Tor."

"Nice ride."

"Why thank you, you too."

"Bet yours can't do this." Dustin's voice quipped. Alexis turned to watch the other rangers form their Zords into a Megazord.

"Whatcha think Danny?" She asked.

" I think if we don't combine, we'll miss all the fun." Alexis cracked a smile. "Calling cobalt Ape Zord."

Alexis leaned back in her chair as the three Zords shifted around her. Using machines to fight wasn't her favorite thing, but the only other option was to be left out.

"Inferno Megazord, ready for action." Danny told her.

"Inferno Megazord, I'm not sure if your Zord has the right kind of artillery to take out a creature of similar basis." Cam's voice told them.

"Aww come on." Alexis whined

"You're saying just because this thing it technically a fire monster, we can't hurt it?" Danny clarified.

"Whomever designed your zords didn't count on the chance it would ever go against such a closely related opponent." Cam told them.

Alexis pouted, but then something caught her eye. "Red!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Shane asked.

"Not you Red, that Red." she said, and pointed her Megazord arm to the oncoming animal. Everyone turned to see the dragon of fire swooping towards them.

"What the..." the monster said.

"You named the dragon?" Tori asked.

"Well I wasn't going to call it the dragon forever." Everyone watched as Red flew, and mid-flight changed. It's body turned to metal, and it attached itself to the Inferno Megazord, mouth wide open.

"My pet dragon is a cannon." Alexis said in disbelief. "This is epic."

"Cam, will this fire power do?"

"Undoubtedly."

"Let's do this."

The three Megazords lined up side-by-side to face Ash-a-Trops.

"On my mark." Shane ordered. "One." The Storm Megazord readied its Dolphin Laser.  
"Two" the Samurai Thunder Megazord aimed its cannons.  
"Three." The Inferno Megazord pointed its new dragon flame thrower.  
"Mark!" Shane said, and torrents of firepower was released at the monster.

"Nooooooo! This wont be happening!" Was the monsters final words.

"Later rock head." Hunter said to its exploding form.

* * *

Danny and Alexis were the last ones to reach the Ops

"What's up with you?" He had asked her.

She was quiet for a second. "I changed out there."

He looked at her for an elaboration. "As soon as I morphed, as soon as I got into that fight, I forgot I had just lost my brother again, I stopped worrying about the school and everything there was to stress over. I just felt like.."

"Alexis, no one is upset with you for taking a break from all the crap for a few minutes." Danny assured her.

"I know but..." Alexis trailed off. They had reached the entrance. Hunter was standing outside waiting them. Danny looked back and forth.

"I'll give you some time to chat." He excused himself and was pointed through the waterfall.

"Hey." Alexis said, smiling shyly.

"Hey" he replied. "But what?"

"Huh?"

"I know but..." He mimicked. "What were you going to say?"

Alexis blushed and looked down. "I was gonna say, but would people think if they knew the real Alexis only takes care of herself."

"That's what you think?" Hunter said.

"Don't you?" Alexis asked, actually curious.

"I think the girl who fought today was the real Alexis. But she wasn't just fighting cause she loved it. She was fighting to avenge her brother. She was fighting to protect the thousands of innocent people in that city. She fought, you fought that thing Alexis, because it was the right thing to do."

"You really think that?"

"I know that Alexis." Alexis took in his words, once again standing silently and close.

"You're doing that thing again." She whined.

"What thing?" Hunter laughed at her.

"That thing where you look at me and I just feel like everything you say is true." She explained.

"I'm never going to lie to you, Alexis." He promised.

* * *

"Explain that like I'm a 6th grader." Danny said to Cam.

Cam sighed. "Basically, the scroll we used to send you to Helicoid was originally designed for a single rescue. Enough power to send someone there, and get them back. In theory, whoever originally created the scrolls would of had a collection so they could make as many rescues as possible. However, the Wind Academy only has one remaining. Well, had."

"Short version, we have no way of getting there again to rescue Josh." Alexis said to no one in particular. Hunters arm snake just a little tighter around her shoulders.

Danny looked at her, then Cam, then her again. "We can't abandon him."

"From what you have told me about your friend, I sense he shall be fine."

"And we'll keep looking for any other possibilities to rescue him." Cam assured them.

"How long will that take?" Danny questioned.

"Considering we have no leads, or allies, or ideas where to begin," Cam said, " it could be a while."

"What if we don't have a while?" Danny asked.

"Patience is one of a ninjas defining qualities." Sensei said. Danny looked like he wanted to make a smart comeback but held his tongue. He was only a guest of the dojo.

"'Lexi..." Tori turned to her cousin.

"I'm ok Tor." She said, but made no eye contact. "Just please," there was a small gasp in her voice, "find a way. I don't care how long it takes."

"We shall do our best." Sensei promised.

After a few more minutes the ninjas departed to return to their lives.

* * *

"So," Hunter suggested, "we normally have a victory dinner after missions. And I know it didn't end as you wanted but you did get your powers back and defeat the bad guy. Feel like celebrating?"

Alexis smiled sweetly. "Don't get me wrong, I feel like celebrating. But in the past 4 days since I've been here, I've shopped, gotten shot in the leg, seen my best friend get kidnapped, re-received my ranger powers, traveled to a prison island in another dimension, found my long-lost brother, lost him again, fought an alien made of a volcano, and controlled a very large robot. I will be celebrating with my bed and my pillow."

Hunter laughed. "Can I see you tomorrow?"

"If I wake up." She teased, but started scratching the back of her neck, "I've got some stuff to think about."

**A/N- FINALLY. I know it took a while for me to update, but I lost my muse. Sorry bout that. Next chapter will be the last, BUT THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE. Also REMEMBER TO VOTE ON MY PROFILE PAGE I KNOW PLENTY OF YOU HAVEN'T YET! I'll try and update relatively quickly, next chapter will be very short.**

**Special Thanks to**

**ninjaxman**

**Guest**

** .Dawn**

**kitten9322**

**70sfaithhumate**

**lillyrosenight**

**mandy618**

**merderbaby( I am seriously in love w/ ur reviews)**

**Hunter Bradley**

**LamoyaSmith vs blake Ntori**

**iamalex117**

**emberlyho**

**Babyvans**

**and White Fairy, for reminding me to write this**


	25. Goodbye Love

Chapter 25

Alexis and Danny stayed in Blue Bay Harbor for two more nights. She spent the day after her mission with Hunter, but once it got dark she again excused herself, saying she needed to think. He called her that night, and again in the morning. Both times she ignored her ringing phone. Tori tried to call as well, and Alexis eventually turned her cell off. She was folding up a pair of jeans when someone knocked on her hotel room door.

"Alexis," Tori's voice called, "I know you're in there."

Alexis sighed, but went to open the door. Tori entered the room without waiting for an invitation. Alexis closed the door and reluctantly turned to face her cousin. The blonde girl was examining the room and its contents. Maps were laid out on the desk, and half-packed suitcases were on the bed.

"So you're really leaving." Tori stated.

"Yeah." Alexis replied.

"What about Hunter?"

"I was gonna go tell him soon."

"Don't bother, he figured it out." Tori told her.  
Alexis exhaled slowly. "Of course he did."

"So, where are you going to go?" Tori asked after a brief silence.

"Fire spreads where the wind takes it." Alexis said while returning to packing.

"That's poetic." Tori remarked. "Or it could just spreads to what it can burn."

"... Ouch."

Tori sighed. "'Lexis, I'm just trying to tell you, leaving is not a good idea."

"Well good thing it's not your idea then." Alexis said.

"Why are you so dead set on going? What is so bad about being here?"

"Honestly Tor?" Alexis said. "What's so bad is every second I'm here I just get filled with more and more rage, and if I don't get away, i am going to explode."

Tori was quiet for a few minutes. "I get it." She finally said. "There are too many memories here."

"Thank you." Alexis said.

"But what are you going to tell Hunter?"

Alexis but her lip. "I have a plan."

* * *

Hunter and Blake were waiting by the beach when Alexis and Tori pulled up in Tori's van.

"Ready?" Tori asked.

"I am if you are."' Was the red heads response.

"When I leave with Blake, you'll have a ride right?"

"Yeah, Danny will be here soon to pick me up."

The two girls started walking towards the two boys. Blake, sensing that his brothers good by should be solo, met them half way.

"See you Alexis." He said to her. He held out a hand to shake. She took it but surprised everyone when she pulled the Navy ninja into a hug. Tori bit back a laugh and Blake tensed, uncomfortably. Tori wasn't in the position to see Alexis bring her mouth the Blake's ear.

"Break her heart, I'll break your neck." She whispered to him. She then pulled away and smiled sweetly.

When Alexis continued the journey to Hunter, Tori and Blake shared a look to agree and give the two some privacy. They loaded into a van and drove away.

"You're leaving." Hunter said once he got there. It wasn't a question.

"How'd you know?"

"The independent thinking and ignoring my phone calls put me on the right direction."

"Hunter, I'm sorry." She apologized.

"Sorry for what?" He asked, but she didn't answer. "Why can't you stay, and help us?"

Alexis hung her head, shaking it slowly. "I don't know, if this is me being selfish, or maybe you were right and all Volcano students only care about themselves. But know matter what I am, I'm a little sister and I'm going to find my brother.

"Wouldn't Josh want you to save the world?"

Alexis gulped and met his eyes. "Yes, he would. But twice now I've lost him, and I can't bear the thought of him in danger. So yes, I'm turning my back on a world that needs me for my own personnel gain, but that's just the way I am when it comes to the people I love."

"And me?" Hunter asked, surprising Alexis.

"Hunter, a year ago I risked everything to be with you, and only kept it all because I was lucky. I'm not going to test my luck when I need it." Alexis started to turn away but Hunter grabbed her.

"No one is here to tell you want you can or can't do anymore, 'Lexis." He said. "And when they come back, we can stop this pointless rivalry."

"I have a mission Hunter. I have to complete it." Alexis stopped when she realized what she just said.

"The last time you said that to me," Hunter recounted, "you followed up by kicking me in the gut."

"Then I'll try and be more careful this time." Alexis said. "Hunter I want to be with you, but a Romeo and Juliet romance never works out well." Tears started to pull in Alexis' eyes.

"Alexis, you're not someone who's driven by fear. Tell me the real reason you're doing this to me."

Alexis took a deep breath. "Alright. You're going to say it doesn't matter but it does, to me at least. I betrayed you. And every time I look at you I'd remember that. I can't live that way." Once again, Alexis started to leave, but Hunter caught her again. He held her by the arms, and she lowered her head to keep their eyes from meeting.

"Just tell me one thing." He asked. "How do you really feel about me?"

When Alexis met his eyes, she couldn't lie. " I love you Hunter, I.." She was cut off by the crash of his lips meeting hers. She felt reality slip away. At the last moment, right before she about to lose herself in there feelings, she caught herself and pushed him away.

"No." She said, shaking her head fiercely. "Hunter, please. Just understand I don't want to choose between you and the VA, so I'm cutting one option out. It'll be easier once you forget about me." She quickly began to walk away.

"You know I can't do that." He called after her.

Alexis paused for barely a second, fighting all her instincts. "Move on with your life Hunter. That's what I'm going to do." She forced out the lies without looking at him. It took everybody of strength she had to say the last word. "Goodbye."

Alexis ran to her awaiting jeep. Hunter hadn't noticed Danny pull up in the vehicle.

Alexis pulled herself into the passenger seat, not taking notice of Danny and his worried expression as he began to drive away. She crossed one arm across her chest, clinging tightly to her short while her other hand covered her mouth. She felt the tears begin to roll down and stain her cheeks.

* * *

Hunter watched Alexis leave. The truck of the car was filled with bags and he hated knowing it was probably everything the two had. Even more he hated the feeling he'd never see her again. "Goodbye Alexis."

* * *

They were almost to the airport when Danny finally said something.  
"You okay?"

"Fine." Alexis said.

Danny waited another few minutes before speaking again. "So, Tori bought the shit about how the memories make you angry, what about Hunter?"

"He didn't believe the sister loyalty thing. And he didn't care about the guilt story. I eventually told him I was choosing the VA over him. I don't know if he bought it completely but he didn't follow."

"Well, there's no one left to trick. Are you going to let me in on the real reason we're leaving?"

Alexis sighed. "Josh was right. I mean, he's normally right but he was right this time too."

Danny waited for her to continue.

"I'm not mature Danny. Emotionally, I mean. I'm ruled by my feelings. I've spent my whole life being a spoiled princess, and its made me an emotionally unstable idiot. I'm leaving because I know I'm not supposed to be there."

"You don't know any of that Alexis." Danny shot back. "You're talking about how you were spoiled, well this is the most selfish thing you've ever done."

"Danny, I need you on my side right now."

"I am on your side Scarlet. I'm always going to be on your side, but you and I both know the right thing to do is take down this threat. Otherwise, you're worse than a spoiled princess, you're a a coward."

Alexis was silent. Danny almost thought he had succeeded in making her see reason. But eventually she spoke up, though her voice was warning.

"Danny," she said, not opening her eyes, " this is my car and we are living off of my trust fund. Either get out, or shut up and drive." Danny wasn't pleased with the arguments result. He wasn't happy with any of it at all. But he chose the latter option.

**A/N- and thus concludes my first fan fiction. Sorry it was shorter. I hope you all enjoyed it. THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE!****Special thanks to****  
****70faithshumate****  
****Guest****  
****Merderbaby****  
****Ninjaxman****  
****White FairyWriter****  
****Books22****  
****Elizabethtran12****  
****Scarlet3008****  
****LamoyaSmith vs blakeNtori**


	26. Epilogue

Epilogue

Friday nights in a local sports bar would probably annoy some people. Especially considering there was a big game going on. It was so crowded getting food took forever, and the cheering or booing only had brief intervals. Families with crying children or parties of friends were common, and loud. To sum it up, the place was hectic. Alexis loved it.

Ever since leaving Blue Bay Harbor, Alexis and Danny were frequently in places like this bar and grille. She hated quiet nights, so they kept the number of them few. They kept busy. Danny had to, he needed to occupy himself. Alexis had to, she needed to occupy her mind.

That night they were occupying themselves with travel plans. They sat at a booth right by the bar, a map on the table between them with food pushed to the side.

"So we'll get to Phoenix late tomorrow night. We can probably be tourists the next morning, but we should get going that afternoon." Danny said, using his finger to draw a line on the map.

Alexis nodded her agreement while munching on an onion ring. "Sounds good. After that..." She was cut off.

"Hey!" Some guy across the bar yelled, a phone pressed to his ear. "The Power Rangers are in some huge fight in Blue Bay Harbor!"

"Change the channel!" This time it was Alexis who yelled. The flustered barista grabbed for the remote, changing to the news station covering the fight.

Alexis' eyes widened when she saw the footage. She had never seen so many monsters before. And the Rangers were fighting them all!

"Oh my god." Danny said beside her. A new figure appeared.

"Is that...?"

"Lothor." Danny told her.

"Impossible." She stated.

"Apparently not." His head nodded a bit.

They continued to watch. "Oh my god, Danny their morphs are about to break!" She exclaimed as quietly as possible. Danny looked equally horrified. The morphs eventually did break, cutesy of Lothor. Coincidentally, the close up camera did to.

Alexis breathed a sigh of relief when the camera changed to one from a helicopter view. You could still see moving figures, but no faces were clear. And everyone became a bit distracted when the giant attacks of earth, air, and water were released. The camera was able to capture Lothor following back into the abyss.

A cheer, louder than any one a sports play could have conceived rang through the bar. Everyone was screaming their heads off. Alexis let out a mix between a laugh and a cheer when she hugged Danny. When she looked at the TV, years were gathering in her eyes, the joy from being free of Lothor making her emotional, but what she saw made her even more so.

"Danny, look!" She exclaimed. He looked, and saw. Lights, thousands of them, the essence of captured ninja, were coming down from the heavens and dispersing. Most flew far from sight, but you could see them in their path.

Alexis and Danny looked at each other, holding their eyes for a moment. Then they acted immediately.

"I'll call the airport and get next flight tickets." Danny already had his phone out.

"I'll pay." Alexis was already waving over the waiter.

* * *

Around a day later, the two were running at break neck speed through the trees. They kept pressing themselves harder, going faster and faster until they reached their first destination. A private beach, away from tourist's prying eyes. A volcano rising to a magnificent height only a meters away. They shared another look. The beach looked abandoned, as if no one had set foot there in a very long time. Alexis bit her lip nervously before walking determinedly to the boulder that disguised the entrance. A brief glance over her shoulder before she stepped straight through. Danny quickly followed.

Alexis hasn't realized she had closed her eyes until she needed to remind herself to open them. The sight before her brought her hand flying to cover her mouth.

Fire ninjas were everywhere, already working to rebuild the fallen school. Teachers stood giving directions as students cleared away debris or started marking out repairs. It didn't take long for someone to notice them.

"It's Danny and Alexis!" A spark yelled out. Every head turned towards them.

"Oh man, we're here." Alexis said amazed. "Danny we're finally home!" She said before running to meet the dozens of waiting hugs and greetings, Danny hot on her heels.

* * *

It was probably around two o' clock in the morning when Alexis left her room. The Academy at night was a stark contrast to itself during the day. Silence was everywhere, all the students resting peacefully. Alexis crept carefully and slowly, crossing the ground with as little noise as possible. She had nearly reached the portal when she turned to check her surroundings.

"Going somewhere?" A voice asked softly.

Alexis snapped back to face Sensei X leaning next to the portal. She looked at the ground.

"Why are you leaving Alexis?" He asked.

"Sensei, a month ago I was ecstatic to be home. But now, I feel wrong. It's not that I love the Academy or people here any less, I just don't feel like this is my home anymore." Alexis explained.

Surprisingly, Sensei X nodded as if he understood. Alexis' face must have betrayed her confusion. "You are practically a prodigy Alexis, you and your brother bother were. But you were very young when you were brought here, and had no choice in the matter. Now that you have experienced life in a another way, you aren't sure if the path of a ninja is the one you want to take."

"Should I be ashamed Sensei?" She asked.

"No." He answered simply. "I suspected this could happen. But admittedly i thought you'd wait until we had recovered Josh."

"I can't help it, I feel like if I find my brother, I'll lose the chance to find myself." She told him.

Sensei X nodded. "I understand." Then, "I trust you have payed a visit to our associate?"

A red-headed nod. "He's helped me with most the technicalities, and I'll drop by before I go to the airport."

"Very good. Well, if you are ready, I suggest you be on your way quickly. I'm sure you left a note for Danny and I will make sure no one goes after you."

"Thank you Sensei." Alexis said and bowed. She moved to the portal again.

"Oh, and Alexis?"

"Yes Sensei?" She turned back in time to catch whatever bottle it was he threw at her. She turned it in her hands. "ColorZap. Removes all unwanted permanent hair color." She read.

"You're a pretty girl Alexis, but the fact of the matter is your hair is auburn, not red." Sensei X said matter-of-factly.

Alexis couldn't help but grin, barely suppressing a laugh. "Good-bye Sensei." She said and left.

Alexis waited patiently until it was her turn at the ticket counter.

"Identification please." The lady said. Alexis handed over the fabricated I.D. The lady took it, looked at it and smiled. "Where to Miss Scarlett?" She faked a southern accent.

Alexis smiled as if she had heard the joke a million times. "Mariner Bay, thanks."

"Alright." the lady said. She handed the I.D card back. "Your parents 'Gone With the Wind' fans?"

"It's actually more for the color." She told her before being handed the boarding pass nod ticket. "Thanks."

She went to the waiting area, and subconsciously noted how normal everything seemed, something she hadn't known in a while. No one noticed her, they just barely registered a girl in jean shorts and a red shirt, somewhere between average and tall, and short auburn hair. It was awesome.

She had stood by a window, and turned to move to a seat, but instead collided with someone else, knocking them both down.

"Woah, sorry about that." The guy said.

"It's cool, my fault too." She laughed a bit. He got up first, and offered her a hand. She accepted gratefully, and when he pulled her up got a good look at him. He was about 6 feet tall, so he was a bit taller than she was, Caucasian and deep black hair. Alexis' attention however was mostly on his eyes. She had read about eyes like those in romance novels. Stunning blue, so that they pulled you in. Eyes like Hunters.

"I'm Chance." He introduced himself.

"Scarlett." She replied.

"Scarlett. Nice name."

"Thanks, yours too."

"So," he started polite conversation, "in Hawaii for vacation or something else?"

"Neither, heading over to the mainland today." She shrugged with a small smile.

"Oh, vacation come to an end all ready?" He joked.

"Actually, I'm starting a sort of vacation slash work attempt." She frowned at her own lack of sense. She eventually just laughed it off. "I've lived here most my life." She explained.

"Ahhhh. That must be great." Chance said.

"Meh, believe it or not palm trees and sand get old after a while." Alexis said jokingly. "Sunsets are to die for though."

"Really? I mean I've heard but there really that awesome?" He asked.

Alexis sighed. "Save for when I haven't actually been on the island, I haven't missed a sunset since I was six years old."

"I'll have to remember that."

"So what bring you to Hawaii!" Alexis asked him.

"Research. I study myths and possible truths in them. I'm here to learn about one surrounding one of the volcanoes here." He told her. Alexis looked at him, surprised for a moment before smiling.

"Let me guess, the one about Mt. Kymiro's fire being able to gift a worthy man with control over flames?"

"You've heard of it?" He looked at her.

"Of course." She turned back to the window. "Uhmm, that one." She pointed to a smaller volcano in the distance. "That's Kymiro. But I can tell you right now it's nothing but legends."

"So there's not some super powerful secret there?" He teased.

_'Just a very powerful school for ninja.'_ Alexis thought. "Nope." She said. An announcement came over the loudspeaker for a boarding plane.  
"Well that's me. Nice meeting you Chance."

"Nice meeting you to Scarlett. Perfect timing, my friends just arrived." Alexis looked where he had gestured and saw two more men approaching, one tall and black while the other was Asian and shorter than his companion. She turned back to Chance and gave a brief nod in parting.

She was heading down the terminal when she shook her head. "Seriously Scarlet." She said to herself. "Stop talking to guys cause they remind you of your ex."

She continued and quickly forgot about her conversation, because she now had something new to worry about. Her future, and now it truly was her future, because it was completely and truly within her control.  
_'This is gonna be epic.'_

**A/N- Thank you so much to everyone who supported this story. This is the end of my first fanfic and it really means a lot to me you all cared enough to review, follow or favorite it. But by the way, THIS IS THE END SO REVIEW! I hope you all enjoyed it.**

**Special thanks to **

**ninjaxman**

**LamoyaSmith vs blakeNtori**

**Guest**

**White Fairy Writer**


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